In a highly unusual travel warning, health officials advised pregnant women to avoid a part of Miami where mosquitoes are apparently transmitting Zika directly to humans.
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US health officials are warning pregnant women to avoid Miami Beach, where Florida officials say mosquitoes have spread the Zika virus to five people.
The CDC also said pregnant women who were in the transmission zone of Miami Beach since July 14 should see a doctor to consider being tested for Zika.
The Florida health department issued its daily Zika report, announcing that two new local Zika infections had been confirmed in Miami-Dade, both of them outside of Miami’s Wynwood area.
The newly affected area in Miami Beach is said to be limited to 11/2 square miles, running from the beach to the Intracoastal Waterway and from Eighth Street to 28th Street. “In addition to the previously identified area in the Wynwood neighborhood, there is now mosquito-borne spread of Zika virus in a section of Miami Beach”.
In a statement late Thursday, Morales said Florida’s Department of Health was investigating Zika cases in Miami Beach but no infections were confirmed. The disease can be transmitted either through mosquitoes or through sexual activity, and is most commonly associated with birth defects such as microcephaly, which results in an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain at birth.
Scott asked for perspective Friday, noting that there are 36 locally transmitted cases of the virus and 20.6 million people living in the state.
Miami-Dade County continues its targeted, on-ground spraying efforts using EPA, CDC and Department of Agriculture approved pesticides.
Earlier this week, USA health officials declared a public health state of emergency in Puerto Rico where the number of Zika virus infections have doubled to more than 10,000 in the past three months.
The discovery of Zika-carrying mosquitoes in South Florida certainly isn’t ideal for tourism, but local officials and business leaders are confident the long-term impact on the tourism industry will be minor.
Scott told reporters Friday that five Zika infections have been linked to an area that encompasses most of tourist-friendly South Beach.
He said mayors across Miami received the information at the same time as media. CDC officials expect more cases to pop up soon.
“Although the state of Florida, with CDC’s assistance, has mounted and continues to mount an aggressive response, the mosquitos are persistent and we won’t know for at least another couple of weeks if these aggressive control measures have worked”, Frieden said Friday. But crowds of tourists on Miami Beach, and the abundance of people in bathing suits and exposed skin, means more people may be infected.
Gov. Rick Scott has directed Florida’s health department to offer mosquito spraying and related services at no cost to Miami-Dade County’s hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions.
“We’re seeing more than 90 percent of mosquitoes in traps killed during each event”, he said. Women who want to get pregnant, along with their partners, are urged to use mosquito spray and condoms or avoid sex altogether. Brazil, especially, has reported the vast majority of cases of Zika-linked microcephaly.
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President Barack Obama in February requested $1.9 billion (£1.4 billion) to fight Zika but Congressional efforts to approve part of the funding deadlocked before lawmakers adjourned for the summer.
