THE U.S. coastal state of Florida, home to popular tourist destinations like Walt Disney World, on Friday identified a second Zika transmission area in Miami, a development that signals a local spread of the virus and prompted federal officials to issue a new travel advisory immediately.
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There are no local transmissions reported in California, but Friday’s warning comes as Zika cases continue to climb in the state among people who have traveled overseas.
The five cases in Miami Beach involve two local residents and three tourists – hailing from New York, Texas and Taiwan – Florida Governor Rick Scott told a news conference.
South Beach has been identified as second site of Zika transmission by mosquitoes on the US mainland, Florida’s governor said Friday.
The CDC is telling pregnant women and even their spouses to avoid traveling to Miami-Dade. But in pregnant women, it can cause microcephaly, a deformation in which babies are born with abnormally small brains and heads.
Therefore, anyone concerned about Zika who traveled to Miami Beach from July 14 onward should seek medical advice and testing, he said.
Aerial spraying and door-to-door operations on the ground have cut mosquito populations in Wynwood by up to 90 percent, but Zika may be continuing as mosquitoes breed, said CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden.
Scott announced that state officials have identified the infections, which they believe have been transmitted by local mosquitoes, in Miami Beach.
She says she was taken aback by the news.
The governor, who turned to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention for help to deal with the outbreak, said that officials are taking active steps against mosquitoes.
The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infection in the mothers.
The Ventura County Public Health Department confirmed the county’s first case of Zika Virus on Friday.
As of August 19, the CDPH has confirmed 170 travel-associated Zika virus infections in 26 counties. Zika also has been linked with other problems in infants, including eye defects, hearing loss, and impaired growth.
Officials say at least 36 people have contracted the virus through local Florida mosquitoes.
The city also has been sending workers to fill potholes collecting water in alleys and fix leaky beach showers, in addition to applying pesticides to the area’s many construction sites and flood-prone residential streets, Coley said. “Today this mosquito serves as the vector of three other serious viruses, dengue, Chikungunya and Zika, which are major threats to global public health”.
And on Thursday, Puerto Rican health officials reported that 30 people have been diagnosed with a rare paralyzing condition that can be caused by Zika infection.
There have also been multiple reported cases of Zika within the United States where those who are infected claim to have caught Zika on recent trips to Mexico.
Most of the thousands of Zika infections recorded globally have so far occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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In a call with reporters on Friday, CDC director Tom Frieden said Miami Beach presents a hard situation for health officials trying to halt the Zika outbreak.
