Women who are pregnant are most at-risk to the virus, as Zika is known to cause birth defects, including microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads.
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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.
In a statement, the agency believes a section of Miami north of downtown is where the transmission of the disease occurred.
Scientists don’t expect big outbreaks in US states like those in hard-hit parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico.
“Our best evidence would be if we found Zika in one of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the area where there are cases reported”.
North-eastern Brazil has been the main area of concern, but more than 20 other countries have now been affected by the virus.
When traveling to Zika infected areas, take precautionary steps to protect yourself by wearing long-sleeved shirts and long trousers; stay in places with air conditioning or have window and air screens, or sleep under a mosquito bed net. At this time, health officials believe the virus is contained to a small area, but they are going to keep investigating.
Researchers have repeatedly estimated that the mosquitoes that carry the virus would probably spread to America, especially Florida and Gulf Coast states.
Mosquitoes in the area are being collected and tested, but so far none have tested positive for Zika. “At present, only a zone of about 1 square mile in Miami-Dade County is considered at risk of active transmission”.
A CDC spokesperson said the question of whether to issue a travel recommendation is “literally a day-by-day decision”.
Mosquitoes have apparently begun spreading Zika in U.S..
Pregnant women should avoid all non-essential trips to Florida because of the potential to contract the Zika virus, United Kingdom officials have said, as thousands of Britons are expected to visit the popular tourist destination.
There are now 168 travel-related cases of Zika virus in Canada, and one sexually transmitted case.
In information posted on its website Thursday, the Florida Department of Health said it was continuing to investigate the four cases in Miami-Dade and Broward that might not be connected to travel. Partners of pregnant women are advised to use a condom to guard against sexual transmission during pregnancy.
But that was before the governor revealed the first cases of Floridians getting Zika within their own state, in all probability from infected mosquitos.
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Blumenthal says he would like to see more than a billion dollars in federal funding used to combat the problem.
