Florida Governor Rick Scott announced today that following 45 days with no evidence of active Zika transmission, the entire Wynwood zone, which was originally about one square mile, has been lifted. It can cause serious birth defects if pregnant women are infected.
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“While there is much we still don’t know about the dynamics of Zika virus transmission, understanding where the Aedes aegypti mosquito can survive in the USA and how its abundance fluctuates seasonally may help guide mosquito control efforts and public health preparedness”, Monaghan said when the study was released.
Yet while Scott is encouraging tourists and fun-seekers to come back on down, it remains to be seen how many will take him up on the offer. The lifted Zika zone also had included the Midtown and Design District neighborhoods. The warning pertained to the Wynwood are of the city and recommended that pregnant women and their partners avoid entering Miami, according to the CDC’s official website.
But Zika is unlikely to spread widely in the United States as it has done in the Caribbean and Latin America, experts say.
“The message with Wynwood is it was a huge success”, said Dr. Lyle Peterson of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports the Associated Press.
“We have more than 93 cases of locally acquired Zika in Florida and on Friday, we extended the Miami Beach Zika zone to an area of about 4.5 miles”.
”We understand that this has been a hard time for Wynwood residents and visitors, ” he said.
Local transmission caused the state and the Centers for Disease Control to create a boxed area of the Wynwood region where officials said the virus was spreading. Just this week, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported that another batch of mosquito samples collected from the Miami Beach neighborhood tested positive for Zika.
The CDC also emphasized its safe sex warnings for those with pregnant sex partners and those planning on getting pregnant.
Zika virus zone expands to Miami Beach. The lifting of the “Zika zone” – which has carried financial consequences for the galleries, restaurants and bars in the artsy district since its creation in early August – is expected after 45 days have passed without the identification of a new, locally born case of Zika.
The CDC said Wynwood had been considered an area of active Zika virus transmission from June 15 until Sunday.
To date, there have been 95 cases of local Zika transmission in Florida.
On Monday, the public health agency amended that directive to instruct expectant mothers to “consider postponing non-essential travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County, including the Wynwood area”.
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On Saturday, Obama used his radio address to pressure Congress, listing unresolved business such as the emergency Zika money, aid to Flint and flood-ravaged Louisiana, and the languishing Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland.
