SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 10:59 AM

Zika mosquito sites in Miami Beach identified

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Florida Department of Health workers visit 1236 Drexel Ave. in Miami Beach early Wednesday to inform residents that traps captured mosquitoes carrying Zika virus at that location. Galen Treuer

BY DANIEL CHANG AND JOEY FLECHAS

[email protected]

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Nearly all of the locations in Miami Beach where traps captured mosquitoes carrying Zika virus in August and September are residential areas, though some are located near where lots of people gather, according to information released Wednesday by Miami-Dade officials.

The county identified four addresses in South Beach as a result of a public dispute with the Florida Department of Health after the Miami Herald filed a lawsuit against Miami-Dade seeking the locations.

 

Interactive feature: Daily Florida Zika virus tracker

The addresses are 1619 Meridian Ave., 932 Lenox Ave., 1236 Drexel Ave. and 2378 Prairie Ave. Health officials identified the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, 2000 Convention Center Dr., as one of the sites on Sept. 1, though the garden had been closed three days prior. The location on Prairie Avenue is near Hebrew Academy’s Rabbi Alexander Gross High School and Miami Beach Senior High, while the Meridian address is near the Lincoln Road mall.

Health department officials notified residents before releasing the addresses, but at least one resident contacted the Herald after receiving a visit. Galen Treur, a University of Miami student, said he lives at 1236 Drexel Ave. and sent a photograph of health officials at his doorfront.

“I feel it was a real failure of communication,” said Treur, 37, and whose building has eight units. “They weren’t giving out information to reduce our exposure.”

The state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services first announced that three of 19 mosquito traps in Miami Beach had captured Zika-positive mosquitoes on Sept. 1. Afourth batch was announced on Sept. 9, and a fifth on Sept. 16.

All of the mosquitoes were captured inside of a 1.5-square-mile area first identified on Aug. 19 as having active spread of the virus, between 8th and 28th Streets from the ocean to the bay.

Since the last batch of Zika-positive mosquitoes was announced, however, no more traps have captured insects with the virus, according to a letter Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez sent to State Surgeon General Celeste Philip on Tuesday, advising Philip that the county would release the locations unless otherwise instructed by the health department.

In the letter, Gimenez said the five traps that captured mosquitoes carrying Zika virus were found on the following dates without identifying the addresses:

On Aug. 22, one sample tested positive from a trap at 932 Lenox Ave. Since then, 27 samples have been tested from that location, and all were negative.

On Aug. 23, two additional samples at 1619 Meridian and the Botanical Garden tested positive for Zika. Since then, 45 samples from those two locations have been tested, all of which were negative.

On Sept. 4, a sample from 2378 Prairie Ave. tested positive. Since then, 17 samples have been tested and all were negative.

On Sept. 9, a sample from 1236 Drexel Ave. tested positive, and since then 10 samples from the same area have tested negative for Zika.

Both the state and county had previously refused to disclose the locations, denying public records requests filed by the Herald. They said the records were exempt from the public records law because they were part of an epidemiological investigation.

The Herald filed suit Sept. 16 against the county seeking disclosure of the trap locations on grounds that the information would help the public make decisions about precautions to take if they live or work nearby, and also would inform the community debate on the use of the controversial insecticide naled, which is being used in Miami Beach to control the mosquito population.

On Sept. 23, during a hearing on the case, a county attorney said in court that the state had instructed local officials to keep the trap locations secret. But the state insisted that the decision lies solely with the county, calling the county’s statements “completely false.”

On Sunday, the dispute escalated, when both Gimenez and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levineaccused the Florida Department of Health of lying.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article104627676.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article104627676.html

Map Update

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

Miami-Dade releases Zika-positive trap locations

Associated Press

MIAMI (AP & WSVN) — Miami-Dade County officials have released the locations of mosquito traps that captured Zika-positive insects in Miami Beach.

“As I have stated many times before, Miami-Dade County remains committed to the health and safety of our residents and visitors, and to absolute transparency in our communications with the community we serve,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez.

Mosquitoes trapped at five locations on Miami Beach tested positive for Zika. Each location tested positive only once; subsequent tests conducted on mosquitoes trapped at these locations yielded negative results. Immediately after notification of the positive test results at each location, Miami-Dade Mosquito Control responded and treated the respective properties and surrounding areas, as per the county’s standard protocol.

Click here to see a list of the locations, number of pools of mosquitoes sent in and the dates the positive mosquitoes were trapped for testing.

“The Department of Health instructed the County, on multiple occasions, to withhold information related to the exact location of the Zika-positive mosquito traps.  Now that the County has been granted permission – via an email from the Florida Surgeon General – to release this information, we are releasing the addresses.  This will be our protocol going forward: We will disclose the locations of any such traps that test positive for Zika to both the property owner and to anyone else who inquires.  It is also important to note that while we did have five traps that tested positive for Zika on dates ranging from August 22 to September 9, multiple subsequent tests have since been conducted, and all of those tests came back negative,” a news release said Wednesday.

County officials made the announcement Tuesday evening after Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Surgeon General Celeste Philip agreed that Miami-Dade can release the trap locations. Earlier that day, Gimenez sent a letter to the state Health Department saying he would release the locations unless state health officials prohibited the action in writing by Wednesday afternoon.

But both the state and county had previously refused to disclose the locations, arguing the records were exempt from public records law because they were part of an epidemiological investigation.

“We are grateful to the residents who allowed us to place the mosquito traps on their properties,” Mayor Gimenez said.  “We continue to remind residents how important it is to continue to ‘Drain and Cover’ to reduce the population of mosquitoes and the spread of diseases in the county.”

http://wsvn.com/news/local/miami-dade-to-release-zika-positive-trap-locations/#.V-vq3vThpAQ.twitter

Update of recent sequences and cases

http://recombinomics.co/thedrnimanshow/2016/09/092816.mp3