The map below shows the total number of Zika cases in Florida counties as reported daily by the Florida Department of Health.
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“As a result, the Zika virus has gained a foothold in Miami, and 183 people have already been infected in the city – infections that may have been preventable”, she said, using a number that includes travel-related cases from people infected overseas.
As the Zika virus continues to spread across Florida, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other state officials will gather at the Department of Public Health Wednesday afternoon to talk about what CT is doing to be ready for the infection. Infection by the Zika virus diverts a key protein necessary for neural cell division in the developing human fetus, thereby causing the birth defect microcephaly, according to a new report from a team of scientists out of Yale University.
“It’s the responsibility of the federal government to get back to work and pass some type of Zika bill”, Levine told Chris Cuomo on CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday. Zika can be spread by a pregnant woman to her fetus during pregnancy.
In Florida, there have been 523 travel-related cases, including at least 157 in Miami-Dade County. Areas like Brazil that have seen a lot of Zika cases have also seen a large increase in babies born with microcephaly-a severe birth defect where a child is born with an abnormally small head. In July, the Florida Department of Health identified the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami and Miami Beach as areas with mosquito-borne spread of Zika. He went to the Centers for Disease Control website and downloaded information about Zika.
Occasional individual cases of local transmission cropped up during earlier chikungunya and dengue outbreaks in Florida, but in most instances these did not amount to a new outbreak, Frieden explained.
The study suggests that Zika virus infections may cause progressive damage over time, Schaffner said.
That followed Tuesday’s announcement of Florida’s first case of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes in Pinellas County, some 265 miles (425 km) from Miami where the first locally transmitted US cases were reported. The World Health Organization has declared an worldwide health emergency over the spread of Zika.
Five more cases of locally transmitted Zika infection were confirmed by Florida health officials on Tuesday, including one in the Tampa Bay area.
Most of the thousands of Zika infections recorded globally have so far occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean. The CDC has sent less than 1,200 tests to the state.
The one exception to this rule seems to be pregnant women.
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Pregnant women who contract the virus, which is spread through mosquito bites and sexual transmission, are most at risk for complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
