Scott directed the state surgeon general on February 12 to activate a Zika virus information hotline for current Florida residents and visitors, as well as anyone planning on traveling to Florida in the near future. Her father, Gabriel Jean, tested positive for Zika, she said Monday.
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The travel warning covers an area of about one square mile in Wynwood to the east of Interstate 95 and south of I-195.
“We’ve been working with the health department through West Nile Virus and we’ll also be working with them through Zika and now would be a great time to do a few of our trial runs”, said Klemme. “Because of this finding, we are advising pregnant women not to travel to that area and if they have traveled there on or after June 15 to visit their health care provider for testing”.
Pregnant women visiting Florida have been told not to travel to the so-called Zika “transmission area” in the wake of 10 new cases. An emergency response team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will help Florida authorities investigate the outbreak, collect samples and control mosquitoes. The CDC advising pregnant women to avoid a popular neighborhood in Miami.
The travel advisory constitutes the first time in at least 25 years that the CDC has warned people to avoid an American neighborhood due to an active infectious outbreak, agency spokesman Tom Skinner told USA Today.
This comes after Florida officials confirmed last week that four people had been infected with the Zika virus by local mosquitoes-the first known cases of the virus being transmitted by mosquitoes within the continental US, rather than the result of travel overseas or sexual contact. It’s large enough, health officials said, to provide a buffer around the suspected hot zone.
Zika infections in pregnant women can cause severe brain-related birth defects, including extremely small skulls.
Zika virus symptoms can be something of a mystery, with the disease imitating a number of other less serious diseases and sometimes masking the very risky effects it can have on pregnant women.
Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical medicine expert at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, said the CDC should be more cautious and expand the travel advisory to all of Miami-Dade County. As for pregnant couples living in the area, the CDC recommends they avoid mosquito bites with long-sleeved clothing and trousers and use repellent with DEET. That’s based on outbreaks of two similar mosquito-borne diseases, dengue fever and chikungunya.
“There wouldn’t be a technical or scientific basis to give a broader recommendation”, Frieden said.
He added that it’s possible mosquitoes are resistant to the insecticide being used, but it could take weeks for federal and state officials to figure that out.
“Zika is now here”, said Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at Friday’s news briefing.
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“The Aedes Aegypti or Aedes Albopictus, both aggressive daytime biting mosquitoes so we urge residents if they see those type of day-biting mosquitoes to call us, it’s a free service, we come out and inspect”, said Klemme. The reason is largely because of living conditions, including mosquito-control efforts and regular use of air-conditioning.
