The CDC also advised pregnant women who have visited the designated area of Miami Beach since July 14, 2016 to contact their healthcare provider about being tested for the virus.
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Frieden said that it’s hard to predict how long active transmission will continue and that it’s possible that other neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County, where both Wynwood and Miami Beach are located, have active Zika transmission that is not yet apparent.
The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says officials will not be able to spray the South Beach area to prevent Zika as they have in other areas because of high-rise buildings and strong winds. Abortion politics played a central role in the impasse.
Officials at Art Basel Miami Beach and other upcoming events cautiously expressed confidence in the region’s mosquito control efforts.
The area involving this latest cluster of cases includes 1.5 square miles between 8th and 28th streets in Miami Beach, said Scott, who added that there are now 36 confirmed cases of local Zika infection statewide.
A broader travel advisory for pregnant women could threaten tourism and heighten fears for pregnant women living in the Miami area.
Rick Scott said that five people in Miami Beach have been infected by the Zika virus through mosquito transmission.
He said the authorities continue to work closely with Wynwood businesses in the prevention of Zika, while also providing aid to compensate for economic losses in the area, a result of the outbreak of the disease transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and also sexually among humans. That neighborhood was the first site on the US mainland where health officials determined mosquitoes were transmitting Zika. The number of Zika cases there now total 10,690, with 1,035 of those being pregnant women.
Possible infections outside Wynwood and Miami Beach also are being investigated.
Following Scott’s announcement, the federal Centers for Disease Control released a new travel advisory, telling pregnant women to avoid visiting the Miami Beach transmission zone.
Aerial spraying and door-to-door operations on the ground have cut mosquito populations in Wynwood by up to 90 percent, but Zika may be continuing as mosquitoes breed, Frieden told reporters Friday. The tourists are residents of New York, Texas and Taiwan.
Zika infection can cause severe brain-related birth defects, including a dangerously small head, if women are infected during pregnancy.
For men who show no symptoms, condom use is recommended for a period of six months after returning from an area affected by the ongoing Zika virus outbreak or an area at risk.
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In a separate statement Thursday, Florida health officials said they believe active Zika transmissions remain limited to a previously identified zone encompassing Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.
