Scott said women who live within the impacted area and are either pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant should contact their doctor for guidance and to receive a Zika prevention kit. These are believed to be the first mosquito-transmitted cases in the mainland USA, which has been girding for months against the epidemic coursing through Latin America and the Caribbean.
Advertisement
MIAMI (AP) – The mosquitoes spreading Zika in Miami are proving harder to eradicate than expected, the nation’s top disease-fighter said Tuesday as authorities sprayed clouds of insecticide in the ground-zero neighborhood, emptied kiddie pools and handed out cans of insect repellent to the homeless. Crews began spraying the one square mile north of Miami with active transmissions, trying to prevent the virus from spreading.
The CDC said the ten new cases are likely contracted by mosquito bites, from a breed of the bug that will only travel a few blocks in its lifetime. And men who have had symptoms of Zika should wait at least six months, the CDC says.
Zika can cause severe birth defects if a woman is infected at anytime during pregnancy.
The Florida travel warning came after 10 more people were found to have the Zika virus after being bitten by local mosquitoes.
Government health officials warned pregnant women Monday to avoid a Zika-stricken part of Miami and told couples who have been there recently to put off having children for at least two months, after the number of people feared infected through mosquito bites in the USA climbed to 14. “We apply the same criteria within and outside of the United States, and are working closely with the State of Florida and Miami health departments to provide preventive services, including mosquito control”.
Of the 14 people infected, two are women and 12 are men. Health officials in Brazil have said there is a “low risk” of Zika. Eight patients showed symptoms of Zika, which can include fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes.
“Mosquito testing often yield negative results because trapping efforts may not actually capture the one infected mosquito that is in the environment”, she said. Local residents can help reduce mosquito populations around their home by removing standing water from flower pots, bird baths, gutters and downspouts and other objects that collect water like buckets and old tires.
Advertisement
The current Zika outbreak was first detected past year in Brazil, where it has been linked to more than 1,700 cases of the birth defect microcephaly, and has since spread rapidly through the Americas. “It’s kind of freaky – there’s so much going on we didn’t know, didn’t really think about it. …”
