Health authorities Monday lifted a travel warning for the Miami neighborhood of Wynwood – site of the United States’ first local Zika outbreak – after the governor declared no evidence of active transmission of the virus there in the last 45 days. Still, the CDC says pregnant women or those seeking to become pregnant need to be cautious.
Advertisement
Florida’s governor says Miami’s Wynwood arts district is no longer considered a zone of active Zika transmission.
“This outbreak would have kept going without the aerial spraying”, Petersen said.
In nearby Miami Beach, meanwhile, health officials have broadened their declared zone of active local transmission.
“Everybody should be coming back here and enjoying themselves”, Scott said at a press conference in Miami.
The virus, which can be passed to an unborn child from a pregnant woman who is infected, can result in severe birth defects such as microcephaly.
Wynwood was the first place on the USA mainland where mosquitoes began transmitting Zika.
Aggressive aerial spraying with naled, an insecticide that targets adult mosquitoes, and Bti, which kills mosquito larva, was used to reduce the number of the type of mosquitoes that spread the virus. “We encourage the public to rediscover our world-renowned street art, cultural, retail and unique dining experiences”.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced an initiative to encourage people to visit the Wynwood area now that the virus appears to be contained.
The Zika virus is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and also reportedly can be spread through sexual contact.
“We could see additional cases”, said Frieden. “(The Department of Health) has identified five people, two males and three females, in the expanded area who all experienced symptoms within one month of each other”, the department said in a statement.
“Despite this, the federal government still can not agree on spending money to stomp out this serious disease”.
Pregnant women and their partners living in or traveling to the area should follow steps to prevent mosquito bites.
USA health officials say they are ending their strongest warning to pregnant women to stay out of Miami’s Wynwood arts district.
Women in Florida are still being advised to cover up if they are considering becoming pregnant.
Anyone who traveled to the area in that period “should wait at least eight weeks before trying to get pregnant”, said the CDC.
Advertisement
The agency continues to advise that pregnant women consider postponing non-essential travel to all of Miami-Dade County including the Wynwood area.
