Four Wynwood Zika Cases Raises Local Florida Transmissions To 21

[niman]

 Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Florida Department of Health (DOH) has identified four 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 21. 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.

http://www.flgov.com/2016/08/09/gov-scott-four-new-individuals-with-zika-in-miami-congress-must-come-back-to-work/

[niman]

GOV. SCOTT: FOUR NEW INDIVIDUALS WITH ZIKA IN MIAMI – CONGRESS MUST COME BACK TO WORK

On August 9, 2016, in News Releases, by Staff

LIVE OAK, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Florida Department of Health (DOH) has identified four 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 21. 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 said, “Today, we have learned that there are four new individuals that have local transmissions of Zika in our state, likely through a mosquito bite. All four of these cases are located in the same, small area of Wynwood that is less than one square mile. Earlier this summer, I allocated more than $26 million in state funds to fight Zika and I have continued to meet with local leaders to ensure they have all of the needed resources. But, every day that passes that Congress and the president fail to come to an agreement hinders our national response to Zika. This is not only an issue affecting us here in Florida – this is a national issue. Florida is just at the head of it with the first cases of local transmission of Zika. Just today, we learned that a baby born with microcephaly caused by Zika died in Texas – a heartbreaking tragedy in our country.

“While Florida has been preparing for Zika since February, we know many other states don’t have the same resources we have. The Obama Administration has still not fulfilled our requests for an additional 10,000 Zika prevention kits for pregnant women or a detailed plan on how they would like Florida to work with FEMA on requesting emergency response funds since this has become mosquito-borne in our state. The federal government must stop playing politics and Congress needs to immediately come back to session to resolve this.”

[niman]

Map Update

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

[niman]

Four new cases of locally-transmitted Zika in Miami brings total to 21

7 News WSVN

MIAMI (WSVN) - The Florida Department of Health has identified four new people who have tested positive for the Zika virus in Miami-Dade County, bringing the new total of locally-transmitted cases to 21.

According to Florida Gov. Rick Scott, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) confirmed, Tuesday, four new people likely contracted the virus in the Wynwood area of Miami, most likely through a mosquito bite.

DOH still believes active transmissions are only taking place in Wynwood.

http://wsvn.com/news/local/four-new-cases-of-locally-transmitted-zika-in-miami-brings-total-to-21/

[niman]

Miami-Dade County commissioners hold emergency Zika virus meeting

Hillary Clinton to tour medical clinic near Wynwood as number grows to 21

By Erica Rakow - Reporter , Associated Press , Amanda Batchelor - Senior Digital Editor

Posted: 11:02 AM, August 09, 2016Updated: 3:18 PM, August 09, 2016

 

MIAMI - Miami-Dade County commissioners are holding an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss the ongoing efforts to combat the Zika virus.

The meeting was held on the same day that Gov. Rick Scott said four more people have locally acquired the Zika virus, likely from mosquito bites in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood.

More Zika Virus Headlines

• Wynwood businesses impacted by Zika scares
• Palm Beach County resident acquires Zika virus, Gov. Rick Scott says
• Wynwood businesses see drop in customers as aerial spraying continues to…

That brings the total number of non-travel-related cases of the Zika virus in Florida to 21.

"All four of these cases are located in the same, small area of Wynwood, that is less than 1 square mile," Scott said.

The mayor, mosquito control, senators, Miami-Dade's police director, other elected officials and health representatives gathered together to discuss the response to the Zika virus in Miami-Dade County, what has been done and what still needs to be done to try to contain the virus.

Aerial spraying was last done on Sunday, and Mayor Carlos Gimenez said it will be done again Wednesday and Sunday.

The mayor said since the spraying began over the same 10-square mile area in and around Wynwood, the population of mosquitoes that carry the virus in the area has been reduced by 97 percent.

Mosquito control has traps set up.

The mayor said 25 Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were being found in the traps daily at first, but that was reduced to nine, and now it's down to less than one per trap.

He said the spraying is just one of several ways the county is working to control the number of infected in South Florida.

The area of concentration is between Northwest Fifth Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard to Northwest 38th and Northwest 20th streets.

Scott said he has directed state health and education officials to work together in providing Zika virus prevention guidance and resources to students, parents and educators.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton will call on Congress to return to Washington and pass emergency funding for the Zika response during a Tuesday visit to South Florida.

The Democratic presidential candidate plans to tour the Borinquen Medical Center, a health clinic close to the Wynwood area.

She will demand Republican leaders bring Congress back in session to either pass stalled legislation or craft a new bipartisan compromise bill to provide funding for testing, treatment and research on the disease, according to aides briefed on her plans.

Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, has already said he'd return to Washington for a vote on a Zika virus bill.

Clinton will also attend two fundraisers for her campaign while she is in South Florida, including a $2,700-a-head fundraiser at the home of Dr. Bruce Carter and a dinner in Miami Beach, hosted by sugar magnate Alfonso Fanjul and investor Paul Cejas.

http://www.local10.com/health/zika-virus/miami-dade-county-commissioners-hold-emergency-zika-virus-meeting

[niman]

There are four new non-travel related cases today being investigated in Miami-Dade County. All four were exposed in the identified area of concern in Miami-Dade County.The department still believes active transmissions are only taking place within the identified area that is less than one-square mile in Miami-Dade County.

http://www.floridahealth.gov/newsroom/2016/08/080916-zika-update.html

 

[niman]

August 9, 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 continue to issue a Zika virus update each week day at 2 p.m. Updates will include a CDC-confirmed Zika case count by county and information to better keep Floridians prepared.

The department has conducted testing for the Zika virus for more than 2,567 people statewide. Florida currently has the capacity to test 6,053 people for active Zika virus and 1,691 for Zika antibodies. Per the Governor’s direction on August 3, all county health departments are now offering free Zika risk assessment and testing to any pregnant woman who would like to be tested.

There are 14 new travel-related cases today with four in Miami-Dade County, three in Orange County, two in Hernando County, one in Broward County, one in Lee County, one in Monroe County and two involving pregnant women. This is Hernando and Monroe counties first travel-related cases of Zika and they have been added to the Declaration of Public Health Emergency. Please visit ourwebsite to see the full list of travel-related cases.

There are four new non-travel related cases today being investigated in Miami-Dade County. All four were exposed in the identified area of concern in Miami-Dade County.The department still believes active transmissions are only taking place within the identified area that is less than one-square mile in Miami-Dade County.

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	369
Non-Travel Related Infections of Zika	21 *six of these meet CDC’s case definition
Infections Involving Pregnant Women	57

ACTIVE INVESTIGATIONS

The department is currently conducting three active investigations. Under each section below, the department outlines the original cases that spurred these investigations, the number of samples collected and results in connection with each investigation to-date.

1)     Identified one-square mile in Miami-Dade – Two (2) original cases

Total # of Samples Collected	Negative Samples	Positive Samples	Pending Results
455	424	17	14

Door to door outreach and sampling continue. Mosquito abatement and reduction activities are on-going.

On August 4, the department announced we have completed testing in a 10 block area of the northwest quadrant of the one-square mile area and no people within the 10 block radius tested positive. The department has cleared that area and is continuing to test people within the one-square mile radius. A map detailing the area is below. The CDC continues to monitor the area per their guidelines.

2)     Miami-Dade investigation outside the one-square mile: One (1) case

Total # of Samples Collected	Negative Samples	Positive Samples	Pending Results
19	16	0	3

Sample collection and door-to-door outreach continues. Mosquito abatement and reduction activities are on-going.

3)     One (1) case in Palm Beach County:

Total # of Samples Collected	Negative Samples	Positive Samples	Pending Results
1	0	0	1

Door to door outreach and sample collection in areas of interest around the case are underway. Mosquito abatement and reduction activities will take place around the area of interest.

CLOSED INVESTIGATIONS

• The department has closed out the investigations into the first cases in Miami-Dade and Broward County (two cases). The department tested 124 close contacts and individuals from the community and found no additional positives.

The department still believes active transmissions are only taking place within the identified one-square mile area in Miami-Dade County. There are no active investigations in Broward County and no areas of active transmission in Broward County.

One case does not mean active transmission is taking place and that’s why the department conducts a thorough investigation by sampling close contacts and community members around each case to determine if additional people are infected. The department has not yet determined where the individual in Palm Beach County or the individual outside the one-square mile in Miami-Dade County likely contracted Zika and will share more details as the investigations progress. If the department finds evidence that active transmission is occurring in an area, we will notify the media and the public.

The department still believes active transmissions of the Zika virus are occurring in one small area in Miami-Dade County, just north of downtown. The exact location is within the boundaries of the following area: NW 5^th Avenue to the west, US 1 to the east, NW/NE 38^th Street to the north and NW/NE 20^thStreet to the south. This area is about one square mile and a map is below to detail the area. This remains the only area of the state where the department has confirmed there are local transmissions of Zika. If investigations reveal additional areas of likely active transmission, the department will announce a defined area of concern. 

CDC recommends that women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant postpone travel to areas with widespread Zika infection. 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 one square mile area 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 since January. The total number of pregnant women who have been or are being monitored is 57.

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 3,710 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.

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.