Two cases of the Zika virus have been identified in Miami Beach, one of the world’s most popular tourist spots, US media reported Thursday. At least twelve cases in the United States have now been confirmed by the CDC. There were no reported cases of Zika transmission by mosquitoes in the state.
Advertisement
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned pregnant women to avoid the Wynwood neighborhood because of the potential for a Zika infection, which can cause severe birth defects. However, if in-state transmissions continue in Florida, pregnant women in the state could see their unborn children endangered, while the state’s tourism could also suffer greatly.
CNN is reporting that officials in Florida have now confirmed a total of 33 Zika cases not contracted by traveling overseas to affected areas, doubling the number of local cases from the initial fifteen that led to a CDC warning against traveling to Miami.
The CDC had not released any information on the reported cases in Miami Beach, nor had the Florida Department of Health, the Times reported.
Possible infections outside Wynwood and Miami Beach also are being investigated. Additionally, there are 21 new travel-related cases in Florida, including 17 in Broward County, according to the Florida Department of Health. Texas health officials linked the case to Miami after examining dates of travel and the onset of symptoms. But the virus only causes mild, flu-like symptoms in most people, making it hard to confirm local transmissions, the CDC said.
Until the identification of local transmissions in Florida, nearly all Zika infections in the US were diagnosed in people who traveled overseas or who had sex with a traveler.
The discovery opens a new front in the battle against the mosquito-borne virus, which has spread to more than 50 countries and territories since an outbreak began previous year in Brazil.
Mosquitoes can become infected with the disease by biting someone who is infected.
Advertisement
Miami-Dade County officials have been spraying pesticide from planes flying over Miami’s Wynwood arts district since early this month, when Zika transmissions by mosquitoes were confirmed there.
