Mr Scott said authorities have cleared half of the area in Wynwood believed to be the source of ongoing active transmission and were working to begin aggressive spraying and mosquito abatement efforts in Pinellas County.
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Pregnant women had been warned by the Centers for Disease Control to avoid the popular South Beach area of Miami Beach, Florida and the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami after seven suspected Zika cases were discovered last week.
Officials said the person with Zika in Pinellas, which includes the city of St Petersburg, had not travelled internationally but that investigators are looking into the possibility that the virus may have been acquired in a neighbouring county.
Meanwhile, in Saint Lucia, the ministry of health is monitoring 26 pregnant women who have tested positive for the zika virus disease.
Health officials tell us most people with the virus won’t have symptoms or will only have mild symptoms like a fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes.
If people are actively infected, and haven’t traveled to another Zika-affected area, that suggests active local transmission. They report that while microcephaly is one of the well known complications associated with the virus, they also observed several other brain abnormalities like gray and white matter loss, issues with the brain stem, and fluid buildup.
But Mr Scott has said he and the state remain “fully committed” to help counties combat the virus’s spread.
According to Dr. Lon Kightlinger, South Dakota’s State Epidemiologist, the woman traveled to the Caribbean which is considered a Zika transmission zone.
Scott said that pregnant women will be able to get a free Zika test kit. Only about five percent of cases get detected, he added.
Brazil is by far the country hit hardest by Zika, with thousands of cases of microcephaly so far reported. He says the big concern is Texas – which has roughly a 25 percent chance of having a small outbreak in the next month, according to the models. More information about Zika’s risks can also be found at www.health.utah.gov/zika. The virus is primarily transmitted via mosquito, which is why health officials urge the use of repellent and wearing long sleeved clothing to prevent catching the illness.
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Such cases are believed to be caused by mosquito bites in Florida, while hundreds of other cases have stemmed from people bringing the virus into the state after being infected elsewhere. “As you know, we have our constituents”.
