The Governor of Florida, Rick Scott, has announced that ten more
people in his state have been diagnosed with the Zika virus likely to
have been transmitted by mosquitoes, bringing the total in the state now
to fourteen.
Officials confirmed that the new cases of Zika, which is already
widespread in many Central and South American countries, including
Brazil, were all in a small section of Miami in the far south of the
state where conditions are most tropical. Of the 14 individuals
identified with the virus so far, two are women and 12 are men.
The Centers for Disease Control meanwhile issued an advisory to
pregnant women to avoid traveling to those parts of Miami where the Zika
virus has been detected. The neighborhood concerned is the Wynwood
design district, an area close to both Miami Beach and downtown Miami
that is popular with tourists and filled with galleries and restaurants.
It is the first time the CDC has issued a Zika advisory for travel
within the USA. It said pregnant women should avoid traveling to the
so-called “transmission area” and women living within the roughly
one-square-mile zone should take additional steps to avoid being bitten
by mosquitoes.
The CDC, based in Atlanta, also said men and women who have recently
visited the area should wait at least eight weeks before trying to
conceive a child. pictured is the governor of florida.
Mr Scott said he had asked the CDC, which is headed by Thomas
Frieden, to send its emergency response team to assist with the state’s
own Department of Health, DOH, to monitor the situation, amid fears that
the transmission zone could widen quickly, potentially to other
population centres in Florida.
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