Until more is known, the CDC advises pregnant women in any trimester and women trying to become pregnant to consider postponing travel to the areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing. The virus can cause fetuses to develop microcephaly, a serious birth defect characterized by an abnormally small head and brain damage.
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The local health department is searching for other potential infections, with more than 2,300 people tested so far in the state, is ramping up mosquito control programs and is distributing Zika protection kits to pregnant women at their doctors’ offices. The four locally transmitted infections occurred within about one square mile of Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood in early July.
Jacob’s jurisdiction covers the Orlando area’s major theme parks in the Orlando area, and she spoke to reporters Friday after Gov. Rick Scott announced that South Florida has the first four cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes in the us mainland.
While Florida has a strong record of battling limited outbreaks of similar mosquito-borne viruses, including dengue and chikungunya, the risk of birth defects caused by Zika adds greater urgency to containing its spread with every available means, they say. The mosquito then bites someone else, spreading the virus. FILE – In this Tuesday, June 28, 2016, file photo, Evaristo Miqueli, a natural resources officer with Broward County Mosquito Control, takes water samples decanted from a watering jug, checking for the presence of mosquit…
Pregnant women have been advised not to travel to affected countries.
Health officials are saying that now there is an epidemic of Zika in Mexico, the Caribbean Islands and Central and South America. As investigators continue to look into the case, several Gulf States, including Louisiana are concerned about the threat.
Some medical experts said pregnant women should not travel to the Miami area, especially if it involves spending time outdoors. But that is very hard to do, it is like finding a needle in a hay stack.
Fourteen countries have reported microcephaly cases, and the first baby born in Europe with microcephaly was reported in Spain this week. “With the amount of mosquitoes that are around this area, it’s really frightening”.
“All the evidence we have seen indicates that this is mosquito-borne transmission that occurred several weeks ago in several blocks in Miami”, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in a statement Friday.
A CDC spokesperson said the question of whether to issue a travel recommendation is “literally a day-by-day decision”.
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“There should be a ban here, you know, I think it’s something that we need to control, need to make sure that everyone is going to be safe”, Corona said.
