Florida health officials reportedly have found evidence of local Zika virus transmission in Miami Beach, a popular tourist haven that saw 15.4 million holiday revelers flock to its beaches in 2015 alone.
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The Miami Herald cited unnamed public health officials who said active transmission has spread to Miami Beach, one of Miami’s most tourist-friendly neighborhoods.
Two new cases of Zika have been linked to Miami Beach, sources told NBC 6 Thursday.
A worker empties stagnant water from a tire during a campaign to destroy potential hatcheries of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus in Villavicencio, Colombia, in February.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott says officials have identified a second area of Zika transmission on the USA mainland. “We will continue to work closely with our businesses and the tourism community to ensure their needs are met”. The Department of Health has been fulfilling requests for Miami-Dade County since June, and they are expediting the county’s additional request made on Friday for funding for additional staff and mosquito traps.
According to the Missouri Department of Health, there have been no reported cases of the Zika virus being contracted from a mosquito bite in the state.
She said investigations are ongoing in “areas in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties where local transmissions of Zika may have occurred”.
On Monday, Texas health officials announced a confirmed case of the Zika virus in a person who had traveled to the affected area in Miami. Those babies can be born with microcephaly, a birth defect that causes small heads and impedes brain development. At least twelve cases in the United States have now been confirmed by the CDC. The disease may be spread through sexual intercourse, but not through casual contact.
Reporters at the press conference charged Scott with underplaying Zika transmission and delaying confirmation to minimize the effect on tourism in the state.
The mosquito-born Zika virus has spread to more than 50 countries and territories since the outbreak began past year in Brazil.
The total number of travel-related cases statewide rose by 12 Wednesday. Puerto Rico continues to see Zika numbers climb, with 1,448 new cases diagnosed.
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Health officials are investigating nine of the non-travel-related cases because they are not within the area of local transmission and do not appear to be linked to that area.
