Four recently infected people in the Miami area, one woman and three men, are believed to have contracted the virus locally through mosquito bites.
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None of the four patients traveled to Zika-affected areas in Latin America or the Caribbean, causing the CDC and Florida health officals to concluded they were infected by local mosquitoes in Miami.
It’s not unusual that no mosquitoes have tested positive for Zika, said C. Roxanne Connelly, a medical entomology specialist at the University of Florida and a past president of the American Mosquito Control Association.
The Zika carrying Asian Tiger mosquito stretches further north into the USA than previously thought.
“We believe that widespread transmission in the continental U.S.is unlikely, but it’s not impossible and that’s why we’re aggressively keeping our guard up and investigating every possible incident that may represent widespread transmission”, he said.
That the state investigation of active transmission of Zika is focusing on a narrow area just north of downtown Miami was striking as well.
“Dump standing water, make sure your covered with mosquito repellant, or heavy clothing, or stay indoors”, said Michael Templin, an Environmental Health Specialist with DOH.
National and state case counts can be found here.
Florida is the first USA state to report locally transmitted cases of the virus.
It comes after health officials in the United States discovered four cases of the virus, which it is feared were contracted from mosquitoes inside America and are not linked to foreign travel.
The trust’s infection control lead, Dr Gavin Boyd said: “There is extremely low risk of contracting Zika virus in the United Kingdom as the mosquito that transmits the virus is not present in the UK”. Currently, there is no vaccine, and the main defense is to avoid mosquito bites.
So far more than 1,600 Zika infections are reported in the U.S. These four cases in South Florida would be the first not linked to worldwide travel. “South Florida has only had four cases”, he said. The same goes if you reside in or are planning a trip to other Gulf Coast states such as Texas and Louisiana where mosquitos capable of transmitting the disease are prevalent.
There are now 168 travel-related cases of Zika virus in Canada, and one sexually transmitted case.
Zika is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus).
Within the next month, the City of Little Rock is adding a fourth mosquito spray truck to help with preventive measures for Zika.
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For the 20% of those infected who display symptoms, the illness is mild and may include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.
