Gov. Rick Scott confirmed this morning that Florida is likely the first state in the nation to have locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus.
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“The investigations into the new cases will begin today and door-to-door outreach and sample collection are ongoing in all cases”, the Florida Department of Health said in information posted on its website. In most people, the virus causes only mild illness, but infection during pregnancy can lead to severe brain-related birth defects for the foetus. “These cases fit similar transmission patterns [of] mosquito-borne diseases like chikungunya that we’ve seen in South Florida in years past”. Florida health officials announced the cases last week.
The main way people become infected with the virus is through the bite of an infected mosquito. There is no vaccine.
Florida’s governor on Friday reported the first evidence of local Zika virus transmission in the continental United States, saying testing of four residents showed they were likely infected by mosquito bites.
Because of the risk of a local Zika outbreak, the Food and Drug Administration has asked all blood donation centers in Miami-Dade, Broward and surrounding areas to stop accepting blood donations until the blood can be tested for the virus. The FDA also recommends that nearby counties implement the same measures to maintain the safety of the USA blood supply. In light of these instances, the FDA had previously advised USA blood banks to disallow people who recently travelled to areas that have Zika outbreaks from making donations.
While mosquitoes remain the biggest source of infection, cases of sexually transmitted Zika do occur.
The Zika virus can be spread from a man to his sexual partners, according to health authorities in the US.
Messages left Thursday for officials at the Florida Department of Health were not immediately returned.
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Because the Aedes aegypti mosquitos don’t normally live in Utah and none have been found in the state so far, the spread of the disease from the father to the son through casual contact is now being investigated, says the CDC. Palm Beach County has reported 18 cases, which ranks fourth in the state behind Miami-Dade, Broward (55) and Orange (40).
