Zika Confirmed In Fifth Batch of Mosquitoes In Miami Beach Florida

[niman]

A fifth batch of mosquitoes trapped in South Beach has tested positive for the Zika virus, the Miami Herald has learned.

Sources with knowledge of the discovery, which is expected to be announced Friday afternoon by the Florida Department of Agriculture, confirmed that the fifth sample of Zika-positive mosquitoes came from from inside the 1.5-square-mile zone of active transmission in South Beach.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article102202537.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article102202537.html

[niman]

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016 11:30 AM

Fifth pool of Zika-positive mosquitoes found in South Beach

 

Aedes aegypti mosquito

BY JOEY FLECHAS

[email protected]

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A fifth batch of mosquitoes trapped in South Beach has tested positive for the Zika virus, the Miami Herald has learned.

Sources with knowledge of the discovery, which is expected to be announced Friday afternoon by the Florida Department of Agriculture, confirmed that the fifth sample of Zika-positive mosquitoes came from from inside the 1.5-square-mile zone of active transmission in South Beach.

The county has been monitoring 19 traps that are spread out through South Beach. Of the positive samples, only one location has been made public — the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, which had to close for a week to be treated for mosquitoes.

Earlier Friday, the Herald filed suit again Miami-Dade County to force the release of records indicating the locations of the other traps.

South Beach has been embroiled in controversy since the county began aerial spraying to control the mosquito population.Protesters have filled City Hall twice to oppose the spraying of naled, a neurotoxin considered effective at killing the Aedes aegypti mosquito that can carry Zika. Officials say the low concentration of the insecticide does not pose a threat to people.

The county will aerially spray naled on Miami Beach again at 6 a.m. Sunday morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Zika protest at Miami Beach City Hall against spraying

A crowd gathered at Miami Beach City Hall to protest against the aerial spraying of the pesticide naled to combat the spread of the Zika virus on the island, Sept. 14, 2016.

C.M. Guerrero Miami Herald

 

Meanwhile, the fight against Zika is getting more expensive.

Friday morning, Florida Gov. Rick Scott authorized another $10 million in state funds on Friday to fight the mosquito-borne illness.

That brings the state’s total bill to $36.2 million, a news release said. Health officials first announced that mosquitoes were spreading the virus in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami on July 29. Since then, Wynwood and the Miami Beach area have been labeled zones of active transmission, triggering an unprecedented travel advisory warning pregnant women to avoid going to those neighborhoods.

The number of local cases continues to rise, with 87 confirmed as of Thursday — 77 Florida residents and 10 who live out of state but acquired the disease in Miami-Dade.

But as Florida worries about Zika’s impact on public health and tourism, Congress has yet approve a funding package to bolster the state’s efforts to contain the virus.

“Zika is non-partisan and I have been very clear that something had to get done this week,” Scott said in a news release, after he attended meetings in Washington this week urging lawmakers to act. “While it doesn’t look like that is going to happen, I will not wait on the federal government to protect Floridians and our visitors.”

Scott’s office said the additional state money will be spent on mosquito control, increased lab capacity for testing and the purchase of Zika prevention kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus continues to spread in South Florida. On Thursday, the Florida Department of Health confirmed seven more local cases in the region, with six in Miami-Dade and one in Palm Beach County.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article102202537.html#storylink=cpy

 

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Statement from Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez regarding Zika-positive mosquitoes in Miami Beach

MIAMI (September 16, 2016) — 

Today, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced that it has confirmed a fifth Zika-positive mosquito pool in the 1.5-square-mile area of Miami Beach where four pools had previously tested positive for Zika. The trap was set on September 8 and pulled on September 9. The fact that we are finding Zika-positive mosquito pools in Miami Beach is not unexpected considering that there is active local transmission. That is why we must continue our aggressive and proactive approach to controlling the mosquito population in order to break the cycle of transmission.
 
Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Control team reported that trap data from yesterday showed that the number of mosquitoes found in traps in Miami Beach had decreased since we began aerial spraying in combination with larvicide treatment by truck a week ago. These numbers tend to fluctuate, but we are seeing a similar mosquito-reduction pattern in Miami Beach to what we saw in Wynwood after we began a similar aggressive protocol. It is still early in the treatment cycle in Miami Beach, and we will continue to monitor the mosquito trap data as we implement our next two cycles of aerial spraying in combination with larvicide treatment by truck through the end of September.
 
Miami-Dade County remains committed to working in collaboration with the City of Miami Beach, and we will continue to follow the protocol recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Florida Departments of Agriculture and Health, to keep our residents and visitors safe from the spread of the Zika virus.

http://www.miamidade.gov/releases/2016-09-16-mayor-statement-mosquitoes.asp