The area is now the only part of the state where the Florida Department of Health is testing to see if local mosquitoes are spreading Zika.
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The four Florida infections are thought to have occurred in a small area just north of downtown Miami, in the Wynwood arts district, Scott said.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott speaks at a news conference, Friday, July 29, 2016, in Orlando, Fla., where he announced that the state likely has the first cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes on the us mainland. The FDA has also asked blood donation centers in two Florida counties near the transmission site, Miami-Dade and Broward, to halt blood donations for the time being. This is a USA issue.
CDC provides advice on building a Zika virus prevention kit for people who live in states that Zika is spread.
Florida officials became aware of the potential Zika cluster in mid-July, and an investigation of the area found a significant number of mosquitoes that can spread Zika, Frieden said. But the Health Department is testing people in the area in search of other cases.
Now, new data from the agency show that Zika took off in the late spring and early summer as prime mosquito season got under way, and is on course to fulfill that disturbing prediction, said CDC Director Tom Frieden.
So far, the 1,400 infections reported in the USA have been linked to travel to countries with Zika outbreaks in Latin America or the Caribbean.
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.
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs says potential visitors to Florida shouldn’t think twice about coming to the Sunshine State.
“This is not just a Florida issue”.
Zika causes only a mild illness in most people.
According to Brian Foy, an associate professor with Colorado State University, Colorado’s dry climate acts as a natural defense against Zika carrying mosquitos, which thrive in more humid climates such as south Florida. There have been more than 4,700 cases of mosquito-borne Zika in Puerto Rico and other US territories. Zika has been mostly spread through infected mosquitos, but the Florida state government said no mosquitos have yet tested positive for the disease, which can cause severe fetal brain defects, such as microcephaly. None of the four people infected in Florida are showing symptoms anymore, officials said.
“Pregnant women should consider postponing non-essential travel to affected areas until after the pregnancy”.
Health officials think the US should be able to avoid a major outbreak because of better sanitation, better mosquito control and more extensive use of window screens and air conditioners.
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The advice from Public Health England is based on a list of countries and territories with current active Zika virus transmission as classified by the European Centre for Disease Control.
