|
 Florida Governor Rick Scott said state health officials have
confirmed that local transmission of the mosquito-borne Zika virus
is occurring in a new small area in Miami-Dade County, where the
state believes two women and three men have been infected by the
virus.
The governor said the state's health department believes Zika
transmission is only occurring in Miami-Beach and in the new area,
which covers about 1 square mile (2.6 square km).
Zika, which is spread primarily by mosquitoes but also sexually, is
a concern for pregnant women and their partners because the virus
has been liked with a series of birth defects including microcephaly,
marked by small head size and underdeveloped brains that can lead to
severe developmental problems in babies.
Last month, U.S. health officials urged pregnant women to consider
putting off all nonessential travel to Miami due to the Zika virus
even as the state lifted a travel warning for the Wynwood, the Miami
neighborhood which was the first site of local Zika transmission in
the continental United States.
Florida has reported a total of 164 cases of Zika caused by local
mosquito transmission, including 19 people who were infected in the
state but live elsewhere. There are also five cases in which it was
not clear whether transmission occurred in Florida or elsewhere.
In a statement released on Thursday, Scott said the announcement of
the new area of transmission underscores the "urgent need" for
federal funding to fight the virus, adding that the state still has
not received any of the funding that was approved by Congress and
signed by President Barack Obama two weeks ago.
[to top of second column] |
Scott said he has asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to work directly with the Miami-Dade Mosquito Control
District to identify best practices for defeating Zika in the new
area.
Florida officials had already reported four of the five cases of
Zika that occurred in the new area of transmission in Miami-Dade
County. "With the confirmation of today’s case, this area now meets
the CDC’s criteria for a new zone," officials said in a statement.
The Zika virus was first detected in Brazil last year and has since
spread across the Americas. It has been linked to more than 1,800
cases of microcephaly in Brazil.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
