The Zika virus has been identified in Miami Beach, opening a new front in the battle against the virus, the Miami Herald reported on Thursday, Aug. 18, citing people familiar with discussions between state and local health officials.
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“If you travel to a Zika area and you’re pregnant, please reach out to your primary care or OB/GYN, and they will offer you testing and ultrasound as needed”, she said.
An announcement was expected to be made as early as Friday. Women should talk to their doctor about pregnancy plans if they or their partner travel to Zika affected areas.
Additionally, there are 21 new travel-related cases in Florida, including 17 in Broward County, according to the Florida Department of Health.
One of the individuals was exposed in the less than one-square mile in Miami-Dade County where DOH believes active transmissions are occurring. Miami officials approved the use of an aerial pesticide known as naled to help control the local mosquito population. ‘If it was confirmed we’d be able to talk about that, but it’s not’. Reuters said two other babies born at Guatemala City’s Hospital Roosevelt are also suspected as having Zika-related microcephaly.
South Beach has been identified as second site of Zika transmission by mosquitoes on the US mainland, Florida officials said Friday.
Zika’s now spreading from state to state in the U.S. Health officials in Texas said Monday a resident there caught Zika in Florida and brought it home.
City public health officials said that the case is the first Zika virus case in the El Paso area. The city saw a record 15.5 million visitors in 2015, according to the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.
A source said that one case was from a tourist that visited the city two weeks ago, and the other is from a resident who works on the beach. Federal and state health officials have already directed pregnant women to avoid parts of Miami where Zika transmissions have been reported, and they are distributing kits to test for the virus to pregnant women in Florida. Local mosquito populations could pick up the virus from a person returning from another area where Zika is active. DEO, in partnership with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Florida International University, has contacted more than 55 businesses in the Wynwood area.
Dr. Tom Frieden says planes can’t fly low enough among Miami Beach’s high-rises to spray pesticides that kill mosquitoes and their larvae.
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Zika is spread through the aedes aegypti species of mosquito.
