First cases of mosquito-contracted Zika on U.S. mainland reported in Florida

CDC Director Dr Thomas Frieden said in a conference call that local mosquito control efforts have not worked as well as hoped, but so far, the outbreak does not appear to have travelled very far.

Over 1,600 cases of Zika have been previously reported in the USA, but most were brought by travelers who were infected elsewhere. Zika can be passed from a pregnant woman to her foetus, cause certain birth defects such as microcephaly. “DOH believes local transmissions are still only occurring in the same square-mile area of Miami”.

The Zika virus is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito.

“We’re not seeing the number of mosquitoes come down as rapidly as we would have liked”, he said in an interview with The Associated Press. These are believed to be the first mosquito-transmitted cases in the mainland US, which has been girding for months against the epidemic coursing through Latin America and the Caribbean.

“It’s an area that’s not all of one type or another type, and that does make mosquito control more hard because you need to tailor the mosquito-control activities to the specifics of the area to get rid of breeding sites and apply larvicide and insecticide effectively”, Frieden said.

Of the 14 people infected, two are women and 12 are men.

“We apply the same criteria within and outside of the United States, and are working closely with the State of Florida and Miami health departments to provide preventive services, including mosquito control”.

Public Health England (PHE) say the risk in the state, on the south-east coast of the USA, is moderate while many countries in South America, including Olympic host Brazil, is high. As of July 7, Zika had been diagnosed in 5,582 people in Puerto Rico, including 672 pregnant women, the CDC said. The tropical mosquito that spreads Zika travels less than 200 yards in its lifetime. Colombia’s National Health Institute reported over 20,000 cases in February, with three deaths there by May. These infections are thought to have occurred because the patients’ partners had traveled to countries where Zika is circulating, the CDC said. “I’m guessing most women who are pregnant are doing that”. The agency has provided Florida with $8 million in Zika-specific funding and about $27 million in emergency preparedness funding that can be used for Zika response efforts.

The CDC has issued a new advisory that says pregnant women shouldn’t travel to the so-called Zika “transmission area” in Florida and pregnant women who live there should take steps to prevent mosquito bites and sexual spread of the virus. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to allocate $1.9 billion to combat the Zika threat, but federal lawmakers have yet to agree on a spending package. An emergency response team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will help Florida authorities investigate the outbreak, collect samples and control mosquitoes.