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Local Florida Zika Cases Increase To 153


niman

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There are nine new non-travel related cases today in Miami-Dade County.

  • Six cases had exposure in Miami Beach.
  • Three cases are Miami-Dade County residents and the department is investigating where exposure occurred.

There are three new cases where individuals had travel to both Miami-Dade and countries with widespread transmission and exposure could not definitively be determined. These three individuals are added to the undetermined category.

There is also one additional non-Florida resident case with travel to Miami-Dade and the department is investigating to determine where exposure occurred.

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October 3, 2016

Department of Health Daily Zika Update

Contact:
Communications Office
[email protected]
(850) 245-4111

Tallahassee, Fla.—In an effort to keep Florida residents and visitors safe and aware about the status of the Zika virus, the department will issue a Zika virus update each week day. Updates will include a Zika case count by county and information to keep Floridians informed and prepared. In order to keep the public informed, the department has posted our investigation process here.


There are seven new travel related cases today with two in Broward, two in Miami-Dade, one in Seminole and two involving pregnant women. Please visit our website to see the full list of travel-related cases.

There are nine new non-travel related cases today in Miami-Dade County.

  • Six cases had exposure in Miami Beach.
  • Three cases are Miami-Dade County residents and the department is investigating where exposure occurred.

There are three new cases where individuals had travel to both Miami-Dade and countries with widespread transmission and exposure could not definitively be determined. These three individuals are added to the undetermined category.

There is also one additional non-Florida resident case with travel to Miami-Dade and the department is investigating to determine where exposure occurred.

DOH continues door-to-door outreach and targeted testing in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties and mosquito abatement and reduction activities are also taking place around the locations that are being investigated. DOH believes ongoing transmission is only taking place within the identified area in Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County, see map below.

One case does not mean ongoing active transmission is taking place. DOH conducts a thorough investigation by sampling close contacts and community members around each case to determine if additional people are infected. If DOH finds evidence that active transmission is occurring in an area, the media and the public will be notified.

For a complete breakdown of non-travel and travel-related Zika infections to-date, please see below.

Infection Type

Infection Count

Travel-Related   Infections of Zika

716

Non-Travel   Related Infections of Zika

133

Infections   Involving Pregnant Women

99

Out   of State Cases (not Florida Residents)

16

Undetermined  

4

Total

968

The department is currently conducting 15 active investigations. The department has closed 24 investigations. Information regarding the investigations can be found here. If investigations reveal additional areas of active transmission, the department will announce a defined area of concern. 

The department has conducted Zika virus testing for more than 8,614 people statewide. Florida currently has the capacity to test 6,274 people for active Zika virus and 7,505 for Zika antibodies. At Governor Scott’s direction, all county health departments now offer free Zika risk assessment and testing to pregnant women.

Florida’s small case cluster is not considered widespread transmission, however, pregnant women are advised to avoid non-essential travel to the impacted area in Miami-Dade County (see map below). If you are pregnant and must travel or if you live or work in the impacted area, protect yourself from mosquito bites by wearing insect repellent, long clothing and limiting your time outdoors. 

According to CDC guidance, providers should consider testing all pregnant women with a history of travel to a Zika affected area for the virus. It is also recommended that all pregnant women who reside in or travel frequently to the area where active transmission is likely occurring be tested for Zika in the first and second trimester. Pregnant women in the identified area can contact their medical provider or their local county health department to be tested and receive a Zika prevention kit. CDC recommends that a pregnant woman with a history of Zika virus and her provider should consider additional ultrasounds. Additionally, the department is working closely with the Healthy Start Coalition of Miami-Dade County to identify pregnant women in the impacted areas to ensure they have access to resources and information to protect themselves. CDC recommends that a pregnant woman with a history of Zika virus and her provider should consider additional ultrasounds. 

Pregnant women can contact their local county health department for Zika risk assessment and testing hours and information. A Zika risk assessment will be conducted by county health department staff and blood and/or urine samples may be collected and sent to labs for testing. It may take one to two weeks to receive results.

Florida has been monitoring pregnant women with evidence of Zika regardless of symptoms. The total number of pregnant women who have been or are being monitored is 99.

On Feb. 12, Governor Scott directed the State Surgeon General to activate a Zika Virus Information Hotline for current Florida residents and visitors, as well as anyone planning on traveling to Florida in the near future. The hotline, managed by the Department of Health, has assisted 6,781 callers since it launched. The number for the Zika Virus Information Hotline is 1-855-622-6735.

The department urges Floridians to drain standing water weekly, no matter how seemingly small. A couple drops of water in a bottle cap can be a breeding location for mosquitoes. Residents and visitors also need to use repellents when enjoying the Florida outdoors.

For more information on DOH action and federal guidance, please click here.

For resources and information on Zika virus, click here.

Miami Beach Map

County Map

About the Florida Department of Health

The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health, please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.

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Information on Active Investigations

When a local case of Zika virus is confirmed through laboratory testing, the department conducts a thorough investigation around the case to determine if additional people are infected. The department interviews and tests close contacts and community members around the case. Knowing if additional people are infected helps the department determine if there is a zone where mosquitoes are transmitting the virus. Not every case results in a designation of active transmission in an area. In some instances, a case of Zika is an isolated incident with no additional people infected. For more information on the department’s testing and investigation process, click here

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Current Number of Active Investigations: 15

Miami-Dade County: 11 open investigations

Palm Beach: 2 open investigations

Unknown: 2 open investigations *Note: Exposure occurred in Miami Beach and overseas in an area with widespread transmission of Zika.

paragraph break

Current Number of Closed Investigations: 24

Miami-Dade County: 18 closed investigations

Palm Beach County: 4 closed investigation

Broward County: 1 closed investigation

Pinellas: 1 closed investigation 

paragraph break

Sampling Activities For Active Investigations

Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County

Total # of Samples Collected

Positive

Negative

Pending Results

1,047

55

992

0

paragraph break


Palm Beach County – 2 Investigations

Total # of Samples Collected

Positive

Negative

Pending Results

3

0

3

0

paragraph break

Miami-Dade Investigations Outside of Wynwood and Miami Beach – 10 Investigations

Total # of Samples Collected

Positive

Negative

Pending Results

6

1

0

5

paragraph break


Wynwood Area in Miami-Dade County – Note: This investigation is closed, but the department is providing the sampling results below for reference.

Total # of Samples Collected

Positive

Negative

Pending Results

524

33

491

0


Data as of Oct. 3, 2016 - 4:05 PM ET

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More Zika mosquitoes found in Miami Beach

More Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were found in Miami Beach traps over the weekend as Florida reported new cases of locally acquired Zika virus over the past few days, some in people whose exposure is unclear, according to the Miami Herald and the Florida Department of Health.

Meanwhile, a new report from Brazil profiled microcephaly patterns and general disease trends in different parts of the country in the first half of 2016.

Traps show mosquitoes still in Miami Beach

Despite more than a month of ground and aerial spraying, officials in Florida reported that a trap in Miami Beach showed Aedes mosquitos harboring the Zika virus over the weekend. This was the sixth Zika-positive mosquito pool found in Miami Beach since Aug 19, and the first to show Zika-carrying bugs in the Mid-Beach neighborhood (the previous five mosquito pools were found in South Beach), according to the Miami Herald.

The trap was located at 575 W. 49th street, near the La Gorce Golf Course. More than 64,000 Florida mosquitos have been tested for Zika virus since May; only the six pools in Miami Beach have tested positive for mosquitos carrying Zika virus.

This was the first time health officials released the location of the traps as soon as samples tested positive, a move promoted by the Herald's Sep 28 lawsuit that demanded the state release the location of traps that tested positive for Zika.

The news comes after Florida Health, the state's Department of Health, reported five more cases of locally acquired Zika virus on Sep 30 and nine more cases today. All nine cases were in Miami-Dade County; seven people had exposure in Miami Beach, and exposure in the other seven cases is currently under investigation.

Also, Florida Health reported one more infection in an out-of-state resident who was exposed to Zika in Miami-Dade County and three new cases in those who traveled to both Miami-Dade County and countries where the virus is circulating, so exposure location can't be definitively pinned down.

The state now has recorded 133 local cases, 16 in out-of-state people, and 4 of undetermined exposure source.

Currently, Miami Beach is the only active Zika transmission zone in Florida, and the Centers for disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends pregnant women avoid all unnecessary travel to the 4.5 mile area in the heart of Miami.

Brazil microcephaly patterns

In other Zika news, a new study in the journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease described Zika-linked microcephaly trends in Brazil, the country that's been hit hardest by the mosquito-borne illness. Though Zika virus transmission has declined in the second half of 2016, the new study extracted data from epidemiological reports from the Secretary of Health Surveillance of the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MOH) and paints a much more volatile picture, with different regions reporting different transmission trends.

Between November 2015 and July 2016, 8,301 cases of microcephaly or congenital birth defects have been reported in Brazil, mainly in the Northeast region of the country. New reports of microcephaly have declined since February of this year, except in the Southeast region. The number of microcephaly cases under investigation still accounted for 37.7% of all reported cases by July of this year.

"Based on the results of the present analysis, the current incidence of new confirmed cases in Brazil from January to July 2016 is 9.7 per 10,000 live births. The true incidence is probably higher, as fully one-third of reported cases remain under investigation," the authors wrote. "Moreover, a great discrepancy is still observed between the Northeast and the Southeast, despite the similar number of reported Zika virus cases in both regions in the same period."

Cases of Zika virus in the general population have decreased in the country as a whole except in the Northern region, where cases were on the decline until May saw a spike of newly confirmed cases. There have been 165,932 cases of Zika reported in Brazil between Jan 3 and Jun 11, with as many as 12,336 cases being reported each week.

See also:

Oct 1 Miami Herald story

Sep 30 Florida Health update

Oct 3 Florida Health update

Oct 1 Trav Med Infect Dis study

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/10/more-zika-mosquitoes-found-miami-beach

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