niman Posted August 8, 2016 Report Posted August 8, 2016 Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Florida Department of Health (DOH) is investigating one new individual with non-travel related Zika in Palm Beach County. The individual has recently traveled to Miami-Dade County and the department’s investigation is underway to determine the source of infection. DOH has begun door-to-door outreach and sampling in the area and mosquito abatement and reduction activities are also taking place. http://www.flgov.com/2016/08/08/following-new-non-travel-related-zika-case-in-palm-beach-co-gov-scott-directs-doh-and-education-leaders-to-partner-on-zika-preparedness/
niman Posted August 8, 2016 Author Report Posted August 8, 2016 Following New Non-Travel Related Zika Case in Palm Beach Co., Gov. Scott Directs DOH and Education Leaders to Partner on Zika Preparedness On August 8, 2016, in News Releases, by Staff ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Florida Department of Health (DOH) is investigating one new individual with non-travel related Zika in Palm Beach County. The individual has recently traveled to Miami-Dade County and the department’s investigation is underway to determine the source of infection. DOH has begun door-to-door outreach and sampling in the area and mosquito abatement and reduction activities are also taking place. DOH still believes active transmissions are only taking place within the identified area that is less than one-square mile in Miami-Dade County. More details will be announced when the investigation concludes. Governor Scott will be holding a roundtable on Zika preparedness in St. Johns County today and will be available to address this following the event. Following today’s announcement, and with the 2016-17 school year approaching, Governor Scott has directed the Florida Department of Health, the Florida Department of Education and the Florida Board of Governors to partner together to provide critical Zika prevention guidance and resources to students, parents, educators and district leaders across the state. Governor Rick Scott said, “Today, DOH has announced that they are investigating one new individual with non-travel related Zika in Palm Beach County. While this investigation is ongoing, DOH still believes active transmissions are only taking place within the identified area that is less than one-square mile in Miami-Dade County. With the announcement of this new case, and the upcoming new school year, I have directed DOH and DOE to closely work together to ensure students, parents, educators and district leaders have all the resources and guidance they need to combat the Zika virus. “DOH, DOE and the Florida Board of Governors will begin distributing Zika teacher toolkits and materials for school districts, public state colleges and public universities to help educate students and their families. All districts and public education facilities will also be connected with their local health departments for the opportunity to train school clinic nurses and staff on Zika prevention. “Today, I will also be meeting with members of Florida’s K-12 public school system, the Florida College System and the State University System of Florida to discuss what actions they are taking at their schools and campuses, and we will continue to keep an open line of communication with education leaders across the state.” Governor Scott is directing DOH, DOE and BOG to take the following actions: Distribute to each school district office, public college and public university posters, palm cards, door hangers and other education materials that can be displayed throughout campuses and sent home with students; Send mosquito repellent to school districts, public state colleges and public universities in Miami-Dade, Broward, Martin, Monroe and Palm Beach counties; Share with K-12 educators, principals, parents and other education stakeholders the Florida Department of Health’s Zika teacher toolkit, which includes messages and activities that can be incorporated into teachers’ lesson plans and used at home; Issue informational Zika awareness and prevention materials to VPK and other school readiness programs throughout the state; Provide each school district, public college and public university with contact information for the local health department, which can train school clinic nurses and staff on prevention and symptom identification; and Encourage all education leaders to have protocols in place to promptly address suspected Zika cases.
niman Posted August 8, 2016 Author Report Posted August 8, 2016 AUGUST 8, 2016 3:31 PM First local Palm Beach County Zika case confirmed Miami-Dade County mosquito inspector Carlos Varas uses a Golden Eagle machine to spray insecticide in Wynwood as resident Calmero Diaz, 63, looks on. On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott announced the first local case of Zika in Palm Beach County, making it the 17th local case so far found in the state. Emily Michot [email protected] BY JENNY STALETOVICH [email protected] LINKEDIN GOOGLE+ PINTEREST REDDIT PRINT ORDER REPRINT OF THIS STORY Palm Beach County has its first local case of Zika, Gov. Rick Scott announced Monday. The patient had recently traveled to Miami-Dade County, but it’s not yet clear where the virus was contracted. The Florida Department of Health has begun questioning neighbors while officials increase mosquito control efforts in the area. The additional case increases the number of locally acquired Zika cases to 17 in South Florida, along with 406 travel-related cases, 20 of which occurred in Palm Beach County. While the news marks the first time a local case has been reported north of Broward County, officials say they remain convinced that active transmission of the virus is still limited to a one-square-mile area in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood. Since the first local case was reported in Miami-Dade July 29, officials have amped up efforts to battle mosquitoes during South Florida’s buggiest time of the year. On Sunday morning, a second round of aerial spraying focused on 10 square miles near Wynwood. Interactive feature: Daily Florida Zika virus tracker On Monday, Scott also announced plans to better prepare students to combat the Zika virus when school starts again. The state will begin sending mosquito repellent, normally not allowed on campuses, to all district and public colleges and universities in Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties as well as educational material. Nursery schools that offer the state’s free pre-kindergarten program will also get information to distribute. The state will provide training for local school nurses and health staff. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article94410842.html
niman Posted August 8, 2016 Author Report Posted August 8, 2016 Map Update https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&hl=en&authuser=0&authuser=0&mid=1FlIB7hHnVgGD9TlbSx5HwAj-PEQ
niman Posted August 9, 2016 Author Report Posted August 9, 2016 Investigators Study New Zika Case in Palm Beach County An Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which carries the Zika virus, photographed on human skin in a lab of the International Training and Medical Research Training Center in Cali, Colombia, in January 2016. ENLARGE An Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which carries the Zika virus, photographed on human skin in a lab of the International Training and Medical Research Training Center in Cali, Colombia, in January 2016. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES By MELANIE EVANS Updated Aug. 8, 2016 8:02 p.m. ET 0 COMMENTS The first Zika outbreak in the continental U.S. has spread to a third Florida county, the governor said on Monday, as health officials launched an investigation into a new case. But officials believe active transmission of the virus remains confined to the square-mile Wynwood neighborhood of Miami where the outbreak was first identified. Gov. Rick Scott said state Department of Health officials are investigating how an individual in Palm Beach County became the state’s 17th person believed to be infected without exposure from travel outside the U.S. to areas where Zika is circulating. The virus, which can cause birth defects, is spread largely by mosquitoes, but also by sexual contact. The Florida Department of Health has ruled out sexual transmission in the new investigation. –– ADVERTISEMENT –– A health department spokeswoman said “the investigation is under way to try to confirm the source of the infection.” The state previously identified 16 people in neighboring Broward and Miami-Dade counties who are believed to have been infected with Zika by a mosquito. The individual in Palm Beach County, just to the north of Broward, recently visited Miami-Dade County, the state health department said. “The department still believes active transmissions are only taking place within the identified area that is less than one-square-mile,” the agency said. Florida health officials have launched efforts to collect samples from Palm Beach County locals to track the virus’s possible spread. The state has also begun efforts in the county to kill mosquitoes. Mr. Scott also said on Monday that the state would distribute mosquito repellent to Florida’s public colleges, universities and school districts. Fliers and other resources on the virus would be sent home with students, the governor’s office said. http://www.wsj.com/articles/investigators-study-new-zika-case-in-palm-beach-county-1470698946
niman Posted August 9, 2016 Author Report Posted August 9, 2016 New case of non-travel related Zika in Palm Beach County Filed Under: Zika Stephanie Soucheray | News Reporter | CIDRAP News | Aug 08, 2016 Share Tweet LinkedIn Email Print & PDF westpalmbeach.jpg Wally Gobetz/ Flickr cc Florida Governor Rick Scott announced today that the Florida Department of Public Health (Florida Health) is investigating a case of locally transmitted Zika in Palm Beach County. The case is the first non-travel related Zika transmission outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida. As of today, the state has 17 cases of non-travel related Zika. Florida Health is conducting door-to-door outreach, mosquito abatement, and sampling in Palm Beach County. According to a statement from the governor's office, the person had recently traveled to Miami-Dade County, and Florida Health officials are still saying that active transmission of Zika is limited to a 1-square mile area of the Wynwood neighborhood, just north of downtown Miami. "While this investigation is ongoing, DOH still believes active transmissions are only taking place within the identified area that is less than one-square mile in Miami-Dade County," said Scott in a statement. "With the announcement of this new case, and the upcoming new school year, I have directed DOH and DOE to closely work together to ensure students, parents, educators and district leaders have all the resources and guidance they need to combat the Zika virus." With the start of school approaching, Scott said he would work with the Florida Department of Education to distribute Zika preparedness kits across to schools and universities across southern Florida, including door hangers, mosquito repellent, and other educational materials. In its daily update, Florida Health said there are 357 travel-related Zika cases in the state, 55 in pregnant women. On Aug 3, Scott ordered that all pregnant women in Florida can be tested for Zika for free. Florida health has already tested 2,515 people statewide for Zika virus, and has the capacity to test 6,145 people for active Zika virus and 1,840 for Zika antibodies. See also: Aug 8 Governor Scott's statement Aug 8 Florida Health update http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/08/new-case-non-travel-related-zika-palm-beach-county
niman Posted August 9, 2016 Author Report Posted August 9, 2016 Palm Beach County has first case of locally-acquired Zika virus 7:16 p.m. Monday, Aug. 8, 2016 | Filed in: News COMMENTS 0 County IG: Westlake creation appears to violate no law Access to MyPalmBeachPost.com included for Post subscribers EXPLORE The first case of locally-acquired Zika virus has arrived in Palm Beach County. Gov. Rick Scott said Monday the infected person recently traveled to Miami-Dade County, ground zero for an outbreak of Zika acquired through domestic mosquitoes. State health officials are attempting to determine where the unidentified person contracted the virus. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Before Monday’s announcement, the state said that 20 people in Palm Beach County had been infected while traveling outside the United States to countries — mostly in the Caribbean and Latin America — where the virus is widespread. South Florida has 17 cases of locally-acquired Zika, including at least 14 in a one-square-mile area in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, a popular arts district just north of the city’s downtown. There have also been two confirmed cases in Broward County of non-travel-related Zika. Scott said Monday that state officials still believe local transmission of Zika remains confined to the Wynwood area. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took the unprecedented step last week of warning pregnant women not to travel to Wynwood. People who have visited Wynwood since June 15 have been advised by the CDC to put off getting pregnant for several weeks. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Zika has relatively mild effects on adults but has been shown to cause microcephaly, a devastating birth defect that results in underdeveloped heads and brains in newborns. The Florida Department of Health has begun taking samples and questioning neighbors of the Palm Beach County resident with the locally-acquired virus. A health department spokeswoman declined to name the neighborhood where the Zika patient lives because “that information is part of an ongoing epidemiological investigation and is protected under Florida Statute.” “I assume that they have this person monitored and they’re spraying very aggressively in the area where this person is living to hopefully prevent any additional transmission,” said Tim Tellinghuisen, associate professor of immunology and microbial science at Scripps Research Institute. Zika is transmitted through bites from the mosquito species known as Aedes aegypti, which can also spread yellow fever, dengue and chikungunya. The Aedes aegypti — only the females bite — are mostly found in urban areas and can breed practically anywhere, including on a few droplets of rain on a fallen leaf. “The nice thing is this species of mosquitoes don’t travel very far from where they hatch — maybe 100 or 200 feet,” Tellinghuisen said. “The downside is that you’re dealing with a mobile population of people moving in and out of the area.” The state has tested 2,515 people for Zika, including 132 in Palm Beach County, said Sarah Revell, spokeswoman for the department of health. Aside from the 17 people who contracted the virus in Florida by local transmission, 357 travel-related cases of Zika have been confirmed as of Monday, including 55 involving pregnant women. With the new school year set to begin, Scott said Monday that the state will begin distributing mosquito repellent and educational material on Zika prevention to all public schools as well as colleges and universities in Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties. Tellinghuisen said that despite the growing number of locally-acquired and travel-related cases of Zika in the state, residents should not become overly concerned. “It’s nothing to really be panicked about,” Tellinghuisen said. “For most people, this virus doesn’t cause significant problems beyond a rash and a mild fever. We’re not talking about an Ebola-like situation.” Ebola is an often fatal disease that killed thousands during an outbreak in 2014 in West Africa. Staff writer John Kennedy contributed to this story. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/first-non-travel-related-zika-case-reported-in-pal/nsCH3/
niman Posted August 9, 2016 Author Report Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) Palm Beach County gets first local case; S. Florida gets Zika safe sex billboards Diane C. LadeContact ReporterSun Sentinel Gov. Scott says Palm Beach County has first Zika case possibly acquired from local mosquitoes. Privacy Policy Gov. Rick Scott announced Monday that state health officials are investigating Palm Beach County's first locally transmitted case of the Zika virus. The infected person recently had been in Miami-Dade County, according to a written statement from the Governor's Office, and investigators are trying to determine the source of the infection. Florida's 17 locally acquired cases in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are the first in the continental United States. Thirteen of those cases are clustered in a 1-square-mile area centered around Miami's Wynwood Arts District. At this point, state health officials think active Zika transmission is taking place only in the Miami-Wynwood cluster area. Officials closed investigations into two Broward cases: one involved someone who had traveled to the Miami cluster area; the infection source for the second case could not be determined. In early August, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its first-ever advisory against travel to a U.S. destination when it advised pregnant women not to visit the Miami-Wynwood area. Zika can cause severe birth defects if a woman is infected during pregnancy. The Florida Department of Health on Monday reported six new travel-related cases statewide, including two in Miami-Dade. One was in Tallahassee's Leon County and the first for that area. Florida now has a total of 429 cases, including 55 involving pregnant women. Miami-Dade has 55 travel-related cases, the most of any county. Broward has 55, and Palm Beach County has 20. Zika investigations include testing the close contacts of positive patients, as well as trapping and screening local mosquitoes to see whether they carry the virus. So far, none of the more than 23,000 insect samples tested by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has been positive. Spokeswoman Jennifer Meale said Palm Beach County was among those that had submitted samples. Meanwhile, prevention continues to be stressed as Florida enters its typically hottest and rainiest months, which are mosquitoes' peak breeding time. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has unveiled three billboards with an unmistakable message: an image of a condom emblazoned with the words "Prevent Zika transmission." Two of the signs are near the busy juncture of Interstate 95 and Interstate 595, close to Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale International Airport. The other billboard is in Homestead, along U.S. 1. Scientific researchers, at first dubious, now agree that Zika can be sexually transmitted, although being bitten by an infected mosquito is the most common way to get the virus. Among the more than 1,800 Zika cases in the U.S. mainland, the CDC lists 16 as sexually transmitted. The CDC has issued multiple updates on how couples — particularly those where one person is pregnant, or one person has traveled to a Zika hot spot — should protect themselves from sexual transmission. Recommendations are to use a condom or abstain from eight weeks to six months, depending on the situation. The Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation placed the billboards in areas it previously targeted for safe sex campaigns, said spokesman W. Imara Canady. The media fever around Zika provides a good opportunity to educate everyone about safe sex, he said. "We want to encourage people to be proactive about having healthy and safe sexual interactions," Canady said. [email protected] or 954-356-4295 http://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/fl-zika-palm-beach-local-case-20160808-story.html Edited August 9, 2016 by niman
niman Posted August 9, 2016 Author Report Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) A 500-Square-Foot Area in Miami Is Ground Zero for the Zika Virus Around July 4, a patient entered an emergency room in Miami-Dade County with a fever, a rash and joint pain — three of the four classic symptoms of the Zika virus. By this point, there had already been about 1,600 other Zika cases in the continental United States, but it soon became clear that this one was different. All the other patients had either traveled to Latin America or the Caribbean, where Zika had been raging for months — or they had sex or close contact with someone who had been there. Not this patient. It was the case public health officials had been expecting and dreading: A person in the continental United States had been infected from the bite of a local mosquito. It would turn out to be the first of a wave of cases health officials are now scrambling to identify and contain. They are investigating 17 suspected cases of locally transmitted Zika — including 13 linked to a 500-square-foot area that touches two neighboring businesses in the Wynwood section of Miami. While officials are confident that Zika will never run rampant in the United States, the chase is on in South Florida as more local cases are identified and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the type that carry Zika, stay one step ahead of the spray. Public health officials are also grappling with, well, the public: Some think that the authorities should warn pregnant women away from much more than one square mile, and still others seem unaware that Zika, while mild or inconsequential for most people, can cause devastating brain damage to the babies of infected pregnant women. Photo A family from Peru in front of the Wynwood Walls in Miami this month. August is the slow season for Florida’s $82 billion tourism industry. CreditAlan Diaz/Associated Press “Obviously when people detect local transmission, there’s a lot of different opinions,” said Dr. Lyle R. Petersen, who is managing the Zika response of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “People panic and there’s potential for irrational thinking in either direction, not doing enough and doing too much.” Last week the agency took the unprecedented step of urging people to stay away from a place in the continental United States, warning pregnant women to avoid the square-mile area of Wynwood that contains the 500-square-foot patch and the two unidentified businesses. Dr. Petersen said because the continental United States has better mosquito control, more air-conditioning and less standing water than other countries dealing with the Zika virus, there are most likely to be only “handfuls of local transmission and very rare outbreaks,” which will be containable with a targeted response. “It’s not the whole city — it’s a very small part of the city,” Dr. Petersen said of the possible risk in Miami. “So the recommendation is just don’t go there, particularly if you’re pregnant. In the rest of the city, you’re more likely to get killed in a car crash than you are to get Zika virus.” The story of the homegrown Zika cases demonstrates both the value and the limits of planning when the enemy is an unpredictable and stealthy virus delivered by a hardy mosquito adept at hide-and-seek. In a 60-page blueprint this year, the C.D.C. outlined detailed steps to take, and officials have been assiduously tracking the patients, testing people close to them and amping up mosquito control. Still, battling Zika in Wynwood is challenging because its mixture of businesses, apartments and warehouses makes it a veritable urban mosquito mecca. Slices of the gentrifying neighborhood are bursting with art galleries, boutiques and condominiums, but they give way to a still-tattered section of run-down buildings where residents struggle in poverty. “This is low-income,” Tony Fonseca, 45, a construction worker, said as he stood outside the La Fama Supermarket at Northwest Second Avenue and 31st Street. “People live on welfare, they use drugs. You walk around here at night, you can get assaulted — they’ll steal your Ray-Bans.” That part of Wynwood, Mr. Fonseca said, has “lots of standing water,” but he said people in this predominantly Latino neighborhood tend to blame foreign visitors to the arts district for bringing the Zika virus. “Maybe someone brought it from Latin America,” said Mr. Fonseca, born in Miami of Nicaraguan parents. “But no one around here is worried about it.” A firefighter taking a break at a coffee shop on Northwest Second Avenue said two of his female colleagues, both pregnant, were temporarily transferred to a station several miles south, near Coconut Grove. But as Florida health department workers go door to door asking for urine samples to test, seeking to learn the extent of the Zika risk in Wynwood, not everyone sees the need. Diana Ozuna, 27, declined to be tested, even after her 53-year-old mother, who lives nearby, submitted a urine sample of her own. Ms. Ozuna said she lowered her window screens and used repellent, especially on her 20-month-old daughter. Still, because she is not pregnant and has no immediate plans to be, she does not perceive Zika to be a great menace. “It’s bad,” she said, “but it’s not something that you die from.” Zika is an enemy most people cannot see. While its effects can be catastrophic to developing fetuses, in adults the effects are usually mild or negligible, and health officials assume that for every person with symptoms, four more have undetected Zika infection. After the first case appeared in July, the Florida Department of Health tested 54 people who had some connection to the patient or lived within 150 meters of the patient’s apartment building, the maximum distance experts say mosquitoes that carry Zika can typically travel. None of those 54 tested positive, the department said. Days later, around July 8, another homegrown Zika case showed up in Broward County, adjacent to Miami-Dade: a person who had visited a family doctor, complaining of fever, rash, headache and joint pain. In Broward, the health department tested 70 contacts and neighbors of Patient No. 2. All tested negative. And Patient No. 2 had no connection to Patient No. 1. “They had never been even close to each other,” Dr. Petersen said. And “there was no third person. It wasn’t like you could say, ‘Oh, Harry in the apartment next door has the same symptoms.’” That there were two isolated cases in different neighborhoods was, in some ways, a relief. It meant that there was no danger zone, no place rife with infected mosquitoes. Most likely, a person who had traveled to Latin America had landed in Miami with Zika, been bitten by an Aedes aegypti mosquito in Florida, which, now infected itself, had bitten a person in Miami-Dade. The same thing had probably happened via a different mosquito in Broward, they believe. County workers unleashed mosquito control tactics where those patients lived, and the health department determined that those neighborhoods were not active Zika zones Then two other cases appeared — one in Broward and one in Miami-Dade, people whose symptoms started on July 9 or July 10. They were not connected to Patient No. 1 or Patient No. 2. But they were connected to each other. “They worked in businesses that were very close to each other,” Dr. Petersen said. Because both businesses were in Wynwood, “obviously it looked like there was a potential link between the two. They were in close proximity, two people who were sort of in the same area working.” On July 29, officials announced the four cases of local transmission. But it was still unclear whether Wynwood had an outbreak or just two local cases. Determining the answer would depend on two things: Were there other Wynwood-linked cases besides the two workers, and was the mosquito-killing campaign launched when those two cases were identified killing enough mosquitoes? The Florida health department began asking for urine samples from employees and people who lived or worked near the businesses, which are small and do not draw much public traffic, but have outdoor spaces that might have been attractive to mosquitoes. Over the weekend of July 30, lab results came in. Of 26 people closely connected to the Wynwood workers, four were considered to have Zika. Six of 52 people tested in the neighborhood did too. There were now 12 infected people with Wynwood connections, all between the ages of 20 and 45. “All the people that were positive spent time either at those businesses or in the immediate 150 meters around those businesses,” Dr. Petersen said. The core transmission zone was even smaller. “The area that has demonstrated the spread of Zika is only a 500-square-foot area,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the C.D.C., said at a news conference in Miami. None of the people infected in Wynwood was related or had sexually transmitted the virus to each other. Some were part of a group of “friends that hang out together,” Dr. Petersen said, and two were housemates. Officials declined to say if either of the women was pregnant. The earliest infection in the group probably occurred in late June, meaning that Zika had been in Wynwood for at least a week longer than officials had previously known. “This had been going on for practically a month,” Dr. Petersen said, so “you have to basically assume that there’s ongoing transmission.” Moreover, officials responsible for mosquito control reported in the last weekend of July that “despite daily use of spraying,” they were “still seeing new larval mosquitoes and moderately high Aedes aegypti counts,” Dr. Frieden said, adding that the mosquitoes might be resistant to the insecticides being used, or simply hiding in pockets unreachable by backpack- and truck-spraying. “Aggressive mosquito control measures don’t seem to be working as well as we would like.” On Friday, after aerial spraying with a different insecticide began in Wynwood, the mosquito numbers were coming down, Dr. Frieden said. The C.D.C. will likely keep its Wynwood warning in place for weeks, lifting it only when about 45 days have passed without a new case being diagnosed, or when mosquito counts decrease substantially, Dr. Petersen said. As of yesterday, the health department said it had tested 437 people in the square-mile active zone and identified only one additional case — someone among the 26 close contacts of the two Wynwood workers. Wynwood is still the only area authorities consider an active local transmission zone. So far, a 10-block area in the northwest section of the square mile has been cleared, since no one there was found to be infected, Gov. Rick Scott of Florida said. But authorities expect more cases to be identified, some in Wynwood, some elsewhere. On Monday, they announced a 17th case: a person in Palm Beach County who had traveled to Miami-Dade. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/09/health/zika-virus-florida.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nythealth&smtyp=cur&_r=0 Edited August 9, 2016 by niman
niman Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Posted August 31, 2016 (edited) Palm Beach County Health Dept. closes investigation into first local Zika case Continues working second case linked to Lake Worth Charlie Keegan 6:40 PM, Aug 29, 2016 BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County announced it has closed the investigation into one of two cases of Zika believed to be acquired locally. Dr. Alina Alonso said investigators determined the case from August 8 was a single case, and mosquitos did not transmit the disease in Palm Beach County. Governor Rick Scott had previously said the patient in that case traveled to the Wynwood area of Miami, where mosquitos had been actively transmitting the disease. Dr. Alonso did not say where, specifically, the patient acquired Zika. Investigators continue to study a second case of Zika in Palm Beach County. Last week, NewsChannel 5 confirmed a woman in Lake Worth acquired the virus. Alonso said it could be weeks before investigators finish the investigation into that case. “What some people don’t understand is that the testing for this is a little complicated,” she said. “We take more than one test. It’s not a positive, negative kind of thing, you have to put the whole history together, you have to put all the tests together, and then come up with your conclusion.” At a roundtable discussion about Zika, Scott announced a new non-travel related Zika case from Miami Beach. That makes 43 locally acquired cases of Zika in Florida. Scott stressed keeping Zika from spreading involves everyone in the state. With rain in the forecast, standing water can collect in birdbaths, old tires, and other places. Those containers make perfect breeding grounds for the type of mosquito that transmits Zika. By dumping out standing water, you can eliminate breeding grounds for mosquitoes. “You can control your destiny,” the governor said. “These are your mosquitoes, you’re going to breed these mosquitoes, and your neighbors are going to breed them. So if you have no standing water in your area, then the odds are, you have a very low chance of getting Zika.” Last week, representatives from the department of health visited a neighborhood in Lake Worth near where the latest Zika patient lives. Alonso said teams stopped at more than 170 residences, and spoke face to face with people living at more than 80 of those properties. At each stop, representatives educated residents about Zika and provided free bug spray and larvicide. Gaby Mendez said she was happy to hear from the Health Department. She now knows to be vigilant in keeping water from pooling around her garden. “I have to put attention everyday; more when it’s raining. Putting the buckets so there’s no water on top,” Mendez said. Alonso said the health department found mosquito larvae in standing water at 18 properties during its survey. http://www.wptv.com/news/region-s-palm-beach-county/boca-raton/palm-beach-county-health-dept-closes-investigation-into-first-local-zika-case Edited August 31, 2016 by niman
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