Florida Zika cases prompt United Kingdom advice for pregnant travellers

“Mosquitoes”. The virus has been transmitted through local mosquitoes in Florida.

Many more areas, including a number of countries in south and central America and the Caribbean, are categorised as being high risk, where the advice is for pregnant women to postpone non-essential travel, rather than just considering postponing.

Fifty three people have been treated for the Zika virus, which can be predominantly transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. But other methods of Zika transmission, such as travel to a stricken country or sex with an infected person, have been ruled out. Zika has been mostly spread through infected mosquitos, but the Florida state government said no mosquitos have yet tested positive for the disease, which can cause severe fetal brain defects, such as microcephaly.

About 1 in 5 people infected with Zika virus become ill or develop Zika, according to ADPH.

Pregnant women have been advised not to make unnecessary trips to Florida after the first cases of the Zika viruses appeared in the U.S. state.

Repellent is available at LEGOLAND Florida, which follows county guidelines for mosquito spraying and removing standing water where insects can breed. Florida is taking an aggressive approach. “We have worked hard to stay ahead of the spread of Zika and prepare for the worst”.

Frieden said the CDC would not be issuing travel advisories based on the cases in Florida at this time because there’s now no evidence that the transmission is ongoing and there have been “intense mosquito control efforts” in southern Florida for the past several weeks.

Florida had more than 106 million visitors a year ago, and tourism-related employment accounts for around 1.2 million jobs. Women who are pregnant or could become pregnant should avoid travel to Zika-affected areas, including Florida. At this time, the department believes that active transmission of the Zika virus are occurring in one small area in Miami-Dade County, in Florida, the statement said. The same warning goes for men, as Zika can be sexually transmitted.

Health officials believe that the infections occurred in a very small area, north of Miami. Florida got its first Zika case in February.

“These are the first cases of locally transmitted Zika virus in the continental United States”, said Tom Frieden, Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of 27 July 2016, over 50 cases have been diagnosed in United Kingdom travellers since January 2016.

“Congress has been sitting on a $1.9 billion proposal that would more fully fund federal response to this public health emergency”, White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz said, as reported by Politico.

“If you have recently returned from an area where Zika virus transmissions are now reported and have a fever or flu-like illness, seek medical attention without delay to exclude malaria and mention your recent travel”.