On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated their Zika-related travel guidelines for Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, lifting a advisory that recommended pregnant women avoid the area. But federal health officials are still cautioning pregnant women and their partners to “consider postponing nonessential travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County”, according to statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Scott credited aggressive mosquito-control efforts and community education as the reason for eradicating the Zika virus in Miami’s popular arts district.
“When we announced Wynwood as the first place in our nation to have local transmission of the Zika virus, Wynwood was immediately sent into the national spotlight”, Scott said in a statement.
At a press conference Monday, Governor Scott shared the good news that the “Wynwood Zika Zone” is lifted.
And just across Biscayne Bay, a growing segment of Miami Beach continues to see local transmission of Zika. Still, the ongoing presence of Zika-positive mosquitoes in the neighborhood prompted The Miami Herald to file suit against Miami-Dade this week in hopes that the County will disclose the precise locations of all Zika-positive mosquito samples.
The first case of locally transmitted Zika virus in the United States was reported in Miami. Rick Scott announced late last week. On Friday, the mayor’s office announced that the infection zone has expanded from a 4.5-square-mile area composed mostly of South Beach, a popular tourist destination, to a larger, 7-square-mile area.
These five cases were identified by the Florida Department of Health; within a month of each other, two men and three women all experienced symptoms of the Zika Virus. Microcephaly is a severe birth defect which causes the infant to be born with an unusually small head.
As of September 14, a total of 3,176 cases of Zika had been reported in the United States, the CDC said. No locally acquired cases have been reported. There is now no vaccine for Zika.
They said pregnant women and their partners who are anxious about potential exposure to the virus may also consider postponing nonessential travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County. “Still, we encourage people not to let down their guard. We’ve also hired additional staff to run more tests at the same time”, she said.
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People who live or visit in Miami-Dade ounty should still take precautions like wearing insect repellent, wearing long sleeves and trousers and using condoms during sex to prevent mosquito bites and sexual transmission of Zika virus.
