Dr. Vivek Murthy said during a visit to the USA territory that local officials need to boost mosquito control efforts and make contraception more accessible and affordable.
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There’s no evidence of active spread of the Zika Virus, outside Wynwood.
The three new local cases were announced in conjunction with 10 additional travel-related cases of Zika virus in Florida, four in Orange, two in Miami-Dade, one in Leon, one in Palm Beach and one in Sarasota counties.
More than 1,000 pregnant women in Puerto Rico have been infected with the mosquito-borne virus, which can cause microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size and developmental problems in babies.
It also allows Puerto Rico to temporarily reassign public health workers to assist in the Zika response.
US Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said there was “a public health emergency of national significance” in Puerto Rico, with Zika posing a particular threat to pregnant women and their children.
According to the World Health Organization report, the mosquito-born virus is estimated to infect Between three million and four million people this year.
“Society needs to be responsible”, Murthy said.
Puerto Rico reported the first microcephaly case acquired on US soil in May. It involved a fetus that a woman turned over to health authorities. Since then no microcephaly cases have been reported, but federal officials say it is only a matter of time.
Among U.S. states and territories, Puerto Rico is expected to see the worst of the Zika outbreak due to its tropical climate and a lack of infrastructure for mosquito control.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy paid a visit to South Florida on Friday, speaking with pregnant women and their partners about Zika prevention and providing an update on federal prevention efforts.
“Whatever the right strategy is for Puerto Rico, we must make sure we are implementing it quickly because there is no one single action that we can take that will address this epidemic”, he said.
The number of infections caused by the Zika virus in Puerto Rico has surpassed 10,000, an official said Friday, a day after the White House said it would redirect funds from other efforts to help pay for research to find a vaccine.
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“People have to understand the seriousness of this issue”, Garcia said.
