Mosquito Zika Transmission Cases In Miami Increase To 14

niman · August 1, 2016

Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Florida Department of Health (DOH) has identified 10 additional people in Florida with the Zika virus who likely contracted it through a mosquito bite. This brings the total number of people with locally transmitted Zika to 14.

http://www.flgov.com/2016/08/01/gov-scott-florida-calls-on-cdc-to-activate-emergency-response-team-following-confirmed-mosquito-borne-transmissions/

Edited August 1, 2016 by niman

niman · August 1, 2016

Gov. Scott: Florida Calls on CDC to Activate Emergency Response Team Following Confirmed Mosquito-Borne Transmissions

On August 1, 2016, in News Releases, by Staff

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Florida Department of Health (DOH) has identified 10 additional people in Florida with the Zika virus who likely contracted it through a mosquito bite. This brings the total number of people with locally transmitted Zika to 14. DOH believes that active transmissions of the Zika virus are still only occurring in the one small area in Miami-Dade County, just north of downtown, that was announced on Friday (see map below). This remains the only area of the state where DOH has confirmed there are ongoing local transmissions of Zika. Among the 10 new individuals announced today, six are asymptomatic and were identified from the door-to-door community survey that DOH is conducting.

Following today’s announcement, Governor Scott has called upon the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to activate a CDC Emergency Response Team (CERT) to assist the Florida Department of Health and other partners in their investigation, sample collection, and mosquito control efforts.

Governor Scott said, “Today, DOH has confirmed that 10 additional people have contracted the Zika virus locally, likely through a mosquito bite. DOH has been testing individuals in three locations in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for possible local transmissions through mosquito bites. Based on DOH’s investigations, two locations have been ruled out for possible local transmissions of the Zika virus. DOH believes local transmissions are still only occurring in the same square mile area of Miami.

“Following today’s announcement, I have requested that the CDC activate their Emergency Response Team to assist DOH in their investigation, research and sample collection efforts. Their team will consist of public health experts whose role is to augment our response efforts to confirmed local transmissions of the Zika virus.

“While we continue to learn more about this virus each day, we know that it is most harmful to pregnant women and their babies. For women who live or work in the impacted area and are either pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, I urge you to contact your OB/GYN for guidance and to receive a Zika prevention kit.

“Florida has a proven track record of success when it comes to managing similar mosquito-borne viruses. We will continue to keep our residents and visitors safe utilizing constant surveillance and aggressive strategies, such as increased mosquito spraying, that have allowed our state to fight similar viruses. While I encourage all residents and visitors to continue to use precaution by draining standing water and wearing bug spray, Florida remains safe and open for business. This year, we have already welcomed a record 30 million tourists and we look forward to welcoming more visitors to Florida this summer.”

DOH has conducted testing for the Zika virus for more than 2,300 people statewide. Since DOH began their investigation into possible local transmissions of Zika on July 7^th, more than 200 individuals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have been tested for the virus who live or work near the individuals that have already been confirmed with likely mosquito-borne transmissions. Of the 14 individuals identified, two are women and 12 are men.

The CDC has now issued a notice to women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant to avoid unnecessary travel to the impacted area that is just north of downtown Miami (see map below of the one square mile area). As directed by Governor Scott last week, DOH has activated the Joint Information Center (JIC) within the State Emergency Operations Center to ensure the impacted area has coordinated access to information and resources. DOH has also begun the process to contract with commercial pest control companies to enhance and expand mosquito mitigation and abatement, including increased spraying, in the impacted area.

On February 12^th, 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 number for the Zika Virus Information Hotline is 1-855-622-6735.

The exact location of where DOH believes there are active transmissions of the Zika virus is within the boundaries of the following area: NW 5^th Avenue to the west, US 1 to the east, NW/NE 38^thStreet to the north and NW/NE 20^th Street to the south. This area is about one square mile and a map is below to detail the area.

###

niman · August 1, 2016

Map Update

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&hl=en&authuser=0&authuser=0&mid=1FlIB7hHnVgGD9TlbSx5HwAj-PEQ

Stacey Readout · August 1, 2016

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Governor Rick Scott confirmed Monday morning that 10 additional people in Florida with the Zika virus likely contracted it through a mosquito bite.

This brings the total number of people with locally transmitted Zika to 14.

The Florida Department of Health believes that active transmissions of the Zika virus are still only occurring in a small area of Miami-Dade County, just north of downtown, that was announced on Friday.

Among the 10 new patients announced Monday, six are asymptomatic and were identified from the door-to-door community survey that DOH is conducting.

“Following today’s announcement, I have requested that the CDC activate their Emergency Response Team to assist DOH in their investigation, research and sample collection efforts," said Governor Scott. "Their team will consist of public health experts whose role is to augment our response efforts to confirmed local transmissions of the Zika virus."

DOH has conducted testing for the Zika virus for more than 2,300 people statewide.

Since DOH began its investigation into possible local transmissions of Zika on July 7th, more than 200 individuals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have been tested for the virus who live or work near the individuals that have already been confirmed with likely mosquito-borne transmissions.

Of the 14 individuals identified, two are women and 12 are men.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/florida/10-more-people-likely-contracted-zika-from-mosquitoes

niman · August 1, 2016

10 Additional Zika Cases Found in Florida Outbreak; Governor Activates 'Emergency Response'

By GILLIAN MOHNEY

Aug 1, 2016, 12:04 PM ET

PHOTO: An Aedes Aegypti mosquito is photographed on human skin in a lab of the International Training and Medical Research Training Center (CIDEIM) on Jan. 25, 2016, in Cali, Colombia. — WATCH Florida at Epicenter of US Zika Outbreak

Ten additional cases of Zika virus infection have been reported in northern Miami, leading to fears of a growing outbreak of the disease, according to government officials. Florida Gov.Rick Scott has activated the "emergency response" team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help stem the outbreak.

Four people were confirmed last week to have the virus after likely contracting the disease via infected mosquitoes in a 1-square-mile area in northern Miami, according to Gov. Scott. The outbreak is the first time the Zika virus has been transmitted via infected mosquitoes within the continental U.S.

Today, the Florida Department of Health "has confirmed that 10 additional people have contracted the Zika virus locally, likely through a mosquito bite," Scott said in a statement. "DOH has been testing individuals in three locations in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for possible local transmissions through mosquito bites. Based on DOH’s investigations, two locations have been ruled out for possible local transmissions of the Zika virus."

Of the ten additional people reported infected, six had no symptoms and were only identified during a door-to-door investigation. Experts from the CDC and National Institutes of Health had long suspected that there could be some local transmission of Zika virus in the U.S., especially in Florida, where the Aedes aegypti mosquito is present and many people travel to South or Central American countries, where the Zika epidemic has been ongoing.

The Florida Department of Health has tested 2,300 people for Zika virus statewide and 372 have been confirmed to be infected with the virus.

Scott tried to reassure residents by pointing out the state had dealt with past mosquito-borne outbreaks, like dengue and Chikungunya.

"Florida has a proven track record of success when it comes to managing similar mosquito-borne viruses," Scott said in his statement. "We will continue to keep our residents and visitors safe utilizing constant surveillance and aggressive strategies, such as increased mosquito spraying, that have allowed our state to fight similar viruses. While I encourage all residents and visitors to continue to use precaution by draining standing water and wearing bug spray, Florida remains safe and open for business."

The CDC has now issued a warning to pregnant women to avoid unnecessary travel to the area affected in northern Miami.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

https://t.co/SHLJFsTzMS

niman · August 1, 2016

Mon Aug 1, 2016 12:00pm EDT

Florida has identified 10 more Zika cases; calls in feds for help

CHICAGO | BY JULIE STEENHUYSEN

The state of Florida has identified 10 more cases of Zika virus caused by local mosquitoes and has asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send in experts to help with the investigation of the outbreak.

The state now has a total of 14 cases of Zika caused by locally transmitted mosquitoes, according to a statement issued on Monday by Florida Governor Rick Scott.

The Florida Department of Health said it believes active transmission of Zika is restricted to one small area in Miami-Dade County, just north of downtown Miami.

The health department said six of the 10 new cases are asymptomatic and were identified through the door-to-door community survey and testing that it is conducting.

Scott said the state has called on the CDC to activate a CDC Emergency Response Team to assist the Florida Department of Health and other partners in their investigation, sample collection and mosquito control efforts.

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Bill Trott)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-florida-idUSKCN10C2PG?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

niman · August 2, 2016

Zika jolts Miami neighborhood

Alan Gomez, USA TODAY1:10 a.m. EDT August 2, 2016

MIAMI — In South Florida, the only thing moving faster than the Zika virus is news of the Zika virus.

At The Butcher Shop Beer Garden & Grill in the Wynwood neighborhood of this southern city, business is already down 25% since word got out that the area is the first in the nation where local mosquitoes are transmitting Zika.

Bernard Goldstein, a manager at The Butcher Shop, said he set out mosquito repellent candles, provided servers with bottles of bug spray and held a staff meeting to explain the dangers of the virus to his 60 employees. But since the front of the restaurant has no wall, Goldstein said there's only so much they can do to protect the open-air establishment.

"At first I thought it was South Beach playing a prank on us, trying to get the sales," he said, referring to the tourist mecca a few miles east. "But yeah, I'm worried. I'm not sure what we're going to do."

State health officials have pinpointed an area roughly one square mile wide just north of downtown Miami where Zika is being transmitted by mosquitoes. That location didn't shock anybody in Miami, given what a popular destination the zone has become for locals and tourists coming from Latin American countries where the virus has spread.

"We have so many people here who are native to countries where this virus is prevalent, a lot of people who travel back and forth, so I'm not surprised," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

Wynwood is an old warehouse district that has turned into an artists' enclave, filled with studios and outdoor restaurants and bars. Many of the the area's buildings are covered in spray-painted murals, drawing crowds of people to pose for pictures under paintings of dragons, Bob Marley, smiling oranges and dismembered manatees.

Further north in the Design District, entire blocks have been filled with high-end furniture stores, posh art galleries and storefronts reading Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Prada. The area usually hosts walking tours and traveling wine tastings, events that could suffer from the news of Zika's spread.

Some tourists walking around Wynwood on Monday evening shrugged at the threat of the virus. Florangel Quintana said she just moved to South Florida from Venezuela, where she's seen Zika, dengue, chikungunya and other viruses cause widespread panic before petering out.

"Yes, you take precautions. But if I see a mosquito on my arm, I'll kill it and go on with my life," said Quintana, 50, as she crossed the street to continue window shopping.

Others were more cautious. Juliana Laham, a banker from São Paulo, Brazil, said she canceled her dinner plans in Wynwood on Monday the moment she heard about Zika being transmitted there. Laham said she wasn't worried about any long-term damage from the virus, since she's not pregnant or planning to be. But she looked at her husband and son and explained that she didn't want to deal with any kind of fever while visiting Miami.

"We don't want to risk the rest of our vacation," she said.

Gimenez said the county has been closely monitoring the outbreak and is following directions from the state Department of Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said local officials will hold another meeting Tuesday to see if they need to begin aerial mosquito spraying. That might make citizens feel better, Gimenez said, but he warned that the tactic hasn't proven effective against the type of mosquito that's transmitting the Zika virus, another example of the difficulty of containing mosquito-borne viruses.

"Mankind has been at war with the mosquito for thousands of years, and they're still here," he said.

For now, he said he's worried about the financial impact Zika would have on local businesses. And he worried that other cities around the state and the country aren't paying as much attention as they should be.

"We're not going to be the last one," Gimenez said. "This is going to be a national issue."

Back in Wynwood, as a couple locals talked about the virus while waiting for the outdoor bar at Wood Tavern to open, it started to rain. Alexandra Altman looked up, raised her arms and smiled.

"Here's my answer," she said. "I'm dancing in the rain."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/08/01/zika-miami-businesses-suffering/87936568/

niman · August 2, 2016

Ten more cases of local Zika reported in Florida

Stephanie Soucheray | News Reporter | CIDRAP News

|

Aug 01, 2016

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said there were 10 more cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infection diagnosed over the weekend, as Zika control measures seem to be faltering in Miami, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Active transmission in Miami

Officials from the Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) confirmed today that the 10 cases involved local transmissions, spread by mosquitoes in a small neighborhood north of downtown Miami, according to Scott.

Six of the cases were asymptomatic and found through door-to-door surveillance conducted by Florida Health. The cases bring the total spread by local mosquitoes to 14 in Florida.

"While we continue to learn more about this virus each day, we know that it is most harmful to pregnant women and their babies," Scott said in a statement. "For women who live or work in the impacted area and are either pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, I urge you to contact your OB/GYN for guidance and to receive a Zika prevention kit."

Until last week the roughly 1,700 cases of Zika in US states were contracted outside the country or through sexual contact. On Friday, Florida Health confirmed that 4 cases of Zika in Miami were spread by local mosquitoes, and have tested more than 200 people in Wynwood, the affected neighborhood.

In his statement, Scott also called on the CDC to activate a CDC emergency response team (CERT) to help with mosquito surveillance, trapping, and control efforts.

Still, he emphasized that Florida was "open for business," even after Public Health England warned pregnant women this weekend to halt nonessential travel to Florida.

"While I encourage all residents and visitors to continue to use precaution by draining standing water and wearing bug spray, Florida remains safe and open for business," said Scott. "This year, we have already welcomed a record 30 million tourists and we look forward to welcoming more visitors to Florida this summer."

High Aedes counts despite spraying

In a briefing today, CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, said there was a CERT being deployed to Miami this afternoon, adding that the agency was issuing a travel ban for pregnant women to the 1-mile area where local transmission has been observed. This is the first time the CDC has issued a travel ban in the continental United States.

"What we have learned in the past 48 hours is that mosquito control efforts haven't been effective as we hoped in Miami," said Frieden.

Frieden said there were a few possible reasons mosquito control experts were still seeing moderately high numbers of Aedes despite daily spraying. First, the mosquitoes could be laying eggs in "cryptic reservoirs" that were hard to find and target (eg, bottle caps in a person's backyard). More worrisome, Frieden said there could be resistance to the insecticides used. Testing results on the effectives of individual insecticides being used in Miami won't be available for another 1 to 2 weeks, he said.

Because 4 out of 5 infections with Zika are "silent" or asymptomatic, Frieden said protecting pregnant women or those who are considering pregnancy remains the main goal of the CDC's Zika policy.

"Pregnant women should not travel to this area," said Frieden. "Pregnant women who live in this area need to take every step to prevent mosquito bites or sexual transmission. And pregnant women who traveled to this area on or any time after Jun 15 need to be tested for Zika."

Frieden said that based on epidemiologic questioning, Jun 15 is the earliest date of possible local transmission in Miami. In addition to the travel ban, the CDC is recommending Zika testing for all pregnant women in the continental United States at prenatal visits in their first and second trimesters.

Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, which publishes CIDRAP News, said that while he agrees with the CDC's decision to ban travel for pregnant women to a limited area, he warns overreaction could lead to unnecessary restrictions.

"You shouldn't cease all travel to Florida," said Osterholm. "We wouldn't have a travel ban to Minneapolis, because 140 people contract West Nile Virus from mosquitoes each year in Minnesota, and one third of those cases are life-threatening."

Osterholm said aggressive public health measures make travel to wider Florida safe.

See also:

Aug 1 Gov. Rick Scott's statement

Aug 1 CDC press release

Aug 1 CDC travel ban summary

Aug 1 CDC travel advice for Wynwood

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/08/ten-more-cases-local-zika-reported-florida

niman · August 2, 2016

Eradicating Zika-spreading mosquito is proving difficult

By JENNIFER KAY

Aug. 2, 2016 3:19 PM EDT

8 photos

Miami police officer James Bernat, right, hands a can of insect repellent to a homeless man,... Read more

MIAMI (AP) — The mosquitoes spreading Zika in Miami are proving more difficult to eradicate than expected, the nation's top disease-fighter said as authorities sprayed the ground-zero neighborhood, tipped over kiddie pools and handed out cans of insect repellent to the homeless.

Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday that despite aggressive spraying, the mosquitoes are still present in moderately high numbers, suggesting they may be resistant to the insecticide or are managing to hide in crevices and tiny pools of water in the bustling urban neighborhood.

"In Miami, aggressive mosquito control measures don't seem to be working as well as we would have liked," Frieden said.

Mosquito control experts said that's no surprise to them, describing the Aedes aegypti mosquito as a "little ninja" known for sneaking up on people's ankles and capable of breeding in just a bottle cap of standing water.

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Fourteen people are believed to have become infected with Zika from bites in Miami's Wynwood arts district — the first mosquito-transmitted cases on record in the mainland U.S., which has been girding for months against the epidemic coursing through Latin America and the Caribbean.

On Monday, the CDC instructed pregnant women to avoid the neighborhood, marking what is believed to be the first time in the agency's 70-year history that it warned people not to travel somewhere in the U.S. The Zika virus can cause severe brain-related defects, including disastrously small heads.

At the same time, U.S. health authorities have said they don't expect major outbreaks in this country, in part because of better sanitation and the use of air conditioners and window screens.

Miami-Dade County mosquito control inspectors went door to door in Wynwood on Tuesday, handing out information, checking tires and other objects for standing water, and dipping cups to take water samples from vacant lots, building sites and backyards. In one lush yard, an inspector tipped over a kiddie pool and a cooler full of water.

Daily aerial spraying for adult mosquitoes and larvae has been approved for the next four weeks over a 10-square-mile area around Wynwood, county officials said.

The city of Miami is running extra street-sweeping routes to remove the litter and stagnant water that can serve as breeding grounds.

Because of environmental regulations governing which chemicals can be used as insecticides, mosquito control authorities cannot easily switch to another compound if bugs prove resistant to it.

Nothing has worked to stop this mosquito elsewhere in the world except for the introduction of mosquitoes modified to pass on genes that kill their offspring, said Michael Doyle, executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District. And the Food and Drug Administration has not given approval to that approach in the U.S.

"We have to totally rethink mosquito control for Aedes aegypti," Doyle said. "It's like a little ninja. It's always hiding."

The U.S. government might have underestimated how difficult it would be to control Zika's spread, said University of Florida public health researcher Ira Longini. But he also said there aren't enough of the disease-transmitting mosquitoes living in and around houses to cause long-term or widespread outbreaks in this country.

"In defense of the CDC and the government, it's a difficult problem to solve," he said.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0f970ab193b9413cbdbaa916088e1c00/zika-outbreak-prompts-travel-warning-area-miami

niman · August 2, 2016

The Wynwood Yard will temporarily close in response to the Zika virus, which is believed to be actively spreading in the area through mosquitoes. The outdoor food and event venue announced its closure shortly after officials said Miami is open for business despite the outbreak.

Government health officials are warning pregnant women to avoid the one-square-mile area in Miami, which includes parts of the city's Wynwood, Edgewater and Midtown areas.

A skateboarder makes his way along NW 3rd Avenue in Miami's Wynwood Art District.

Because of rapid development in that part of Miami, standing water on construction sites is suspected to have attracted mosquitoes carrying the virus, which could have resulted in some of the 14 confirmed cases of Zika transmitted in the U.S. On Monday, the CDC issued an unprecedented travel warning, advising pregnant women and their partners not to visit the designated region.

"The Wynwood Yard will be closed today in response to the announcement about new Zika cases by the CDC, and due to the unique 100 percent outdoor nature of our venue," the company announced Tuesday. "[We] will be closed in order to better assess preparedness and in an abundance of caution, until we have more information, in order to make sure we are providing the most comfortable and secure environment we possibly can to our team and guests."

It also rescheduled an Essential Oils class planned for Tuesday until Aug. 31. Representatives for the space could not confirm if it would be open tomorrow, as the business is waiting for more information.

Located at 56 N.W. 29th Street, Wynwood Yard is just one of many area restaurants, breweries and other venues with large outdoor areas. For example, Wynwood Walls is a mural installation that wraps partially around Wynwood Kitchen & Bar, a major attraction in the area that is fully outdoors.

Despite the outbreak of Zika in Miami and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sending an emergency response team to the area, Miami officials stress that it is safe to visit South Florida.

"While we understand Wynwood Yard’s decision to close for the time-being, the remaining 300 businesses that make up the unique and vibrant fabric of the neighborhood continue to operate as usual," said Albert Garcia, Vice Chairman of the Wynwood Business Improvement District and Managing Principal of Wynwood Ventures, in a statement. "We welcome the public to visit the area and encourage visitors to take all CDC recommended precautions while they enjoy all that Wynwood has to offer.”

Still, some companies are not as confident about conducting business there. Miami Culinary Tours announced it cancelled its weekend tours of Wynwood's restaurants and art until further notice, the Miami Heraldreported.

Nina Lincoff contributed to this story.

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2016/08/02/wynwood-business-announces-temporary-closure-amid.html

Edited August 2, 2016 by niman

niman · August 10, 2016

Investigators were led to Wynwood, a neighborhood full of hip restaurants and art galleries but also vacant storefronts and residential blocks, by two other cases: infected men who work in businesses about 400 feet from each other there, according to the report.

One, a man in his late 20s known as Broward #2, has a job at a business that does work in Brazil and has several employees who travel there frequently, according to the report. The report didn’t name the business or say what kind of work it does.

The patient recently had a houseguest from Brazil, where an explosive epidemic last year led to nearly 166,000 suspected infections and has been tied to birth defects in hundreds of newborns. Fourteen of the roughly 30 employees who work at the business in Wynwood reported they had typical Zika symptoms such as fever, rash, joint pain or conjunctivitis from early June to mid-July, according to the report.

The other infected man, a 26-year-old known as Miami-Dade #2, works at a business nearby with 11 employees. He and a customer were the only ones to report Zika symptoms, according to the report.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/pregnant-zika-victim-alerted-officials-to-florida-outbreak-1470821406

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Mosquito Zika Transmission Cases In Miami Increase To 14

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