niman Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 (edited) Press Release For Immediate Release Friday, August 19, 2016 Contact: CDC Media Relations (404) 639-3286 Additional area of active Zika transmission identified in Miami Beach Miami-Dade County residents and visitors advised to take steps to reduce risk of Zika transmission The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been working with Florida health officials on investigating cases of locally transmitted Zika virus. An additional area of active Zika transmission has been identified in a section of Miami Beach, in addition to the area of active Zika transmission near Wynwood. The Florida Department of Health has also identified at least four other instances of apparently mosquito-borne Zika in Miami-Dade County, and has reported an increase in travel-related cases. Based on this new information, CDC and Florida health officials are now recommending the following: · Pregnant women should avoid travel to the designated area of Miami Beach, in addition to the designated area of Wynwood, both located in Miami-Dade County, because active local transmission of Zika has been confirmed. · Pregnant women and their partners living in or who must travel to the designated areas should be aware of active Zika virus transmission and follow steps to prevent mosquito bites. · Women and men who live in or who have traveled to the designated area of Miami Beach since July 14, 2016 should be aware of active Zika virus transmission; pregnant women should see their doctor or other healthcare provider about getting tested for Zika; and people who have a pregnant sex partner should consistently and correctly use condoms to prevent infection during sex or avoid having sex for the duration of the pregnancy. · Pregnant women and their sexual partners who are concerned about potential Zika virus exposure may also consider postponing nonessential travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County. · All pregnant women in the United States should be evaluated for possible Zika virus exposure during each prenatal care visit. Each evaluation should include an assessment of signs and symptoms of Zika virus disease (acute onset of fever, rash, arthralgia, conjunctivitis); their travel history; as well as their sexual partner's potential exposure to Zika virus and history of any illness consistent with Zika virus disease to determine whether Zika virus testing is indicated. · Women with Zika should wait at least 8 weeks after symptoms start before trying to get pregnant. · Men with Zika should wait at least 6 months after symptoms start before couples try to get pregnant. · Women and men without confirmed Zika who traveled to this area should wait at least 8 weeks before trying to get pregnant. · Women and men who live in or frequently travel to this area and who do not have signs or symptoms of Zika should talk to their healthcare provider to inform their decisions about timing of pregnancy. “We’re in the midst of mosquito season and expect more Zika infections in the days and months to come,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “It’s difficult but important that pregnant women make every effort to avoid mosquito bites and avoid going to areas where Zika is spreading. Florida and Miami-Dade County are taking appropriate steps to control mosquitoes and protect pregnant women. It is difficult to predict how long active transmission will continue. CDC disease control experts are doing everything they can to support state and local control programs to stop the spread of Zika. Every community in the United States that has the Aedes Aegypti mosquito present must monitor for infections and work to control the mosquitoes.” Detecting local spread of Zika is difficult for several reasons: · The incubation period for Zika infection is up to two weeks, · A high proportion of infected people have no symptoms, and · Diagnosis and investigation of cases takes several weeks. For this reason, it is possible that other neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County have active Zika transmission that is not yet apparent. CDC advises those living in or traveling to Miami-Dade County to enhance their efforts to prevent mosquito bites. Pregnant women and their sexual partners who are concerned about potential Zika virus exposure may also consider postponing nonessential travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County. CDC has been working with state, local, and territorial health officials to prepare for the possibility of locally transmitted Zika virus in the United States. Officials from Florida participated in all these activities, and their experience in responding to mosquito-borne diseases similar to Zika has been an important source of knowledge in this effort. To date, CDC has provided Florida more than $8 million in Zika-specific funding and about $27 million in emergency preparedness funding that can be used toward Zika response efforts. It is understandable that women will be especially concerned, and there are things that everyone can do based on what is currently known. While there are still many unanswered questions about Zika, CDC is working hard to find out more about these infections. Here is what is known: · Zika is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus). · A pregnant woman can pass Zika virus to her fetus during pregnancy or around the time of birth. · Zika virus infection is associated with birth defects and adverse pregnancy outcomes, especially microcephaly. · A person who is infected with Zika virus can pass it to sex partners. · Most people infected with Zika virus won’t have symptoms or will only have mild symptoms. · No vaccines or treatments are currently available to treat or prevent Zika infections. As of August 17, 2016, 2,260 cases of Zika had been reported in the continental United States and Hawaii, including 529 in pregnant women. These cases also include 22 believed to be the result of sexual transmission and one that was the result of a laboratory exposure. For more information about Zika: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/ Edited August 19, 2016 by niman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted August 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2016 Officials: Zika won't hurt South Florida tourism in long run By ASSOCIATED PRESS PUBLISHED: 01:29 EST, 20 August 2016 | UPDATED: 01:29 EST, 20 August 2016 MIAMI (AP) — The discovery of Zika-carrying mosquitoes in South Florida certainly isn't ideal for tourism, but local officials and business leaders are confident the long-term impact on the tourism industry will be minor. Transmission of the virus via mosquito has been confirmed in two sites in Miami-Dade County, but Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said in a news conference Friday he is confident in the city's efforts to combat it. City workers are trying to get rid of standing water and foliage that might attract the insects, while the county begins a fumigation program to kill the bugs. "Between our efforts and the county's spraying efforts, the last thing I'd ever want to be on Miami Beach is a mosquito," Levine said. +4 A City of Miami Beach Sanitation worker gets ready to clean the alleyways of South Beach, sucking up still waters and debris with a mobile vacuum, Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, Miami Beach, Fla., as part of the city's Zika clean-up. (C.M. Guerrero/El Nuevo Herald via AP) Organizers for Art Basel Miami Beach and other upcoming events cautiously expressed confidence in the region's mosquito control efforts. Officials at the Americas Food and Beverage Show will add mosquito repellent to goody bags at the late September event at the Miami Beach Convention Center. "We're taking extra precautions," said Yendi Alvarez, the show's media coordinator. "This wasn't even a thought last year. We put this in place once the news started getting crazy." Gov. Rick Scott has directed Florida's health department to offer mosquito spraying and related services at no cost to Miami-Dade County's hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. More than 15.5 million people made overnight visits to Miami and nearby beaches in 2015, with an impact of $24.4 billion, according to figures from the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. Three vacuum trucks purchased to help Miami Beach fight rising sea levels have been used since the beginning of the year to drain water in low-lying areas where mosquitoes could breed, said Roy Coley, the city's infrastructure director. The city also has been sending workers to fill potholes collecting water in alleys and fix leaky beach showers, in addition to applying pesticides to the area's many construction sites and flood-prone residential streets, Coley said. Five cases of Zika have been connected to mosquitoes in Miami Beach, bringing the state's caseload to 36 infections not related to travel outside the U.S., Florida's governor and health department announced Friday. South Beach has been identified as a second site of Zika transmission by mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland. Containment there will be difficult because high-rise buildings and strong winds make it impractical to spray the neighborhood from the air, officials said Friday. The discovery prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to announce that it was expanding its travel warning for pregnant women to include the area known for nightclubs, pedestrian thoroughfares and beaches. In pregnant women, a Zika infection can cause severe birth defects, including microcephaly. The CDC previously warned pregnant women to avoid the Wynwood arts district in Miami. In its statement Friday, the agency said pregnant women may also want to consider postponing nonessential travel throughout Miami-Dade County if they're concerned about potential exposure to the virus. Aerial spraying and door-to-door operations on the ground have cut mosquito populations in Wynwood by up to 90 percent, but Zika may be continuing as mosquitoes breed, said CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden. "The mosquitoes are persistent and we won't know for a couple of weeks whether these aggressive measures have worked," Frieden said. ___ Associated Press writers Tamara Lush in Tampa, Florida, and Scott Mayerowitz in New York contributed to this report. +4 Melvin Gaitan, from the Miami Beach Sanitation Dept., washes down alley ways Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, Miami Beach, Fla., with a high pressure water machine that is set to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, which kills any bacteria or mosquito larvae that could be growing in still waters. (C.M. Guerrero/El Nuevo Herald via AP) +4 FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2016 file photo, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, foreground, speaks during a news conference along with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden, left, Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-FL, and Fla. Surgeon General and Secretary, Dr. Celeste Philip, far right, in Doral, Fla. South Beach has been identified as second site of Zika transmission by mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland, Florida officials said Friday, Aug. 19. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) +4 Miami Beach Sanitation workers clean up any sort trash that could hold water which allows mosquito larvae to grow, as another workers sucks up debris with mobile vacuum mobile in the alleyways of South Beach, Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, Miami Beach, Fla. (C.M. Guerrero/El Nuevo Herald via AP) Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3750138/Officials-Zika-wont-hurt-South-Florida-tourism-long-run.html#ixzz4HsEENuuV Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niman Posted August 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2016 CDC Issues Travel Warning After 5 Infected in New Florida Zika Transmission By GILLIAN MOHNEY Aug 19, 2016, 3:20 PM ET Gaston De Cardenas/Miami Hearld/TNS via Getty Images WATCH Zika Fears: CDC Warns Pregnant Women Not to Travel to Miami SHARE Email A new cluster of five Zika infections around Miami Beach has led the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a warning for pregnant women to avoid the area of transmission. In addition to the travel advisory that warns pregnant women to stay away from the part of Miami Beach where Zika transmission is ongoing, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised pregnant women and their partners to consider avoiding nonessential travel to all of Miami-Dade County if they are concerned about the virus. CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden told reporters today they wanted to err on the side of caution. “We'll always err on the side of providing more information to the public," Frieden told reporters. "That's why we've highlighted we are quite concerned about these two areas where we know there has been a spread of Zika through local mosquitoes." Miami Beach has certain characteristics that may make it more difficult for public health officials to fight the virus' spread, Frieden said today. He said aerial spraying cannot be conducted because of Miami Beach's high-rise buildings. In addition, the area's large crowds mean more people are likely to be exposed, and few in the tourist-heavy beach community are likely to follow recommendations to wear long sleeves and pants, Frieden said. “The inability to use aerial spraying means we’ll be reduced to ground-based technology," he said. Florida Governor Rick Scott announced the new site of Zika transmission this morning. "We believe we have a new area where local transmission is occurring in Miami Beach," the governor said. Scott announced that state officials have identified the infections, which they believe have been transmitted by local mosquitoes, in Miami Beach. The five people infected -- three men and two women -- include two Florida residents and three visitors from Texas, New York and Taiwan, respectively. In total, 36 people have been infected with Zika virus in the first local outbreak in the continental U.S. Scott said the new area is under 1.5 square miles in size and that mosquito control officials were spraying in an effort to reduce the population of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the Zika virus. Previously, health officials believed local Zika virus transmission was limited to the Wynwood neighborhood in north Miami. That area, which is less than a square mile, has been subject to intense mosquito control and public health efforts to reduce infections. Scott and Florida Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip explained to reporters today why they had not announced the second transmission site yesterday, following multiple media reports of a second outbreak location. “I want to assure everyone that if we I.D. additional areas of local transmission we will tell the local public immediately,” Philip told reporters today. Philip said there were a number of investigations in progress, but that there have been no other suspected areas of local transmission, aside from the two identified areas. She said the investigation into the new cases concluded this morning. Scott called for assistance from the federal government, including guidance for working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and asked the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention for additional lab support and 5,000 more tests for the Zika virus. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/cdc-issues-travel-warning-infected-florida-zika-transmission/story?id=41514576 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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