In other Zika developments, the Florida Department of Health yesterday said it was investigating another suspected case involving local transmission, its second such announcement this week.
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In a well-kept neighborhood in Miami with lush gardens, Larry Smart, a county mosquito control inspector, holds a turkey baster up to the light. “That’s actually mosquito larvae”. Smart uses the turkey baster to sample standing water in hard-to-reach places. These mosquitoes typically live near people and can breed in as little as a teaspoonful of stagnant water.
Elsewhere, Puerto Rico’s governor today turned down a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposal for aerial spraying for mosquitoes. He also drops pellets that kill mosquito larvae into the plant.
Zika spreads to people primarily through mosquito bites, and it can also be spread sexually.
Lidya Rodriguez of Miami Gardens said her home has been swarmed with mosquitos lately. Babies with microcephaly often have smaller brains that might not develop properly.
The La Crosse County Health Department says the Zika virus is a long ways from here, and we should focus on keeping safe from local mosquito borne infections like West Nile. But Lilian Rivera, the head of Miami-Dade County’s Health Department says there are few details she can share. “Just to have patience”.
Officials said residents can use turkey basters to test their plants, and if mosquitos are swimming around in the water, to flush them out every couple of days. Miami took similar measures in 2010 when the city saw a number of dengue cases. Zika is even more worrying.
The first case was in Miami and now health officials are investigating a Zika case in Broward County that does not appear to be linked to travel or sex.
As the investigation continues into the locally acquired cases, Vasquez said mosquitoes in the affected area near the Miami-Dade case were trapped Monday and sent for testing at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.
CDC has given Florida $2 million for Zika preparedness, and on Thursday awarded another $5.6 million to assist the state with Zika as part of an additional $60 million in Zika funds to states announced on Thursday. He’s concerned Zika may already be established in mosquitoes in Florida, Texas and other states along the Gulf Coast.
CDC plans to award another $10 million to states and territories on August 1 to speed identification of microcephaly and other birth defects linked to Zika. State officials have asked the public to cooperate with any requests for urine or blood samples as the investigations advance. “That requires some resources and it’s not being done”.
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The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly that it considers related to Zika infections in the mothers. And, at the height of mosquito season on the Gulf Coast, Congress has adjourned until after Labor Day.
