Mosquitoes may be bringing Zika to Florida

To avoid getting infected, health officials advise that pregnant women refrain from unnecessary travel to places where the virus is circulating, as well as abstain from having unprotected sex with someone who is infected with Zika or has traveled to a place where it is circulating.

More than 1,650 Zika infections have been reported in the US, but the four patients in Florida would be the first not linked to travel outside the USA mainland.

Many more areas, including a number of countries in south and central America and the Caribbean, are categorised as being “high” risk.

But for expectant mothers, infection with the Zika virus can lead to infants born with serious brain defects and developmental abnormalities, especially an abnormally small head in a condition called microcephaly. Officials said that those infected had probably been bitten by a mosquito, and said they suspected the cases originated in a one-square-mile area north of downtown Miami.

A total of 53 people have been treated in the United Kingdom for the infection. However, the CDC is not issuing such advice. The four people appear to have been infected in early July; since then, mosquito control efforts have been stepped up in the area, and additional cases have not been identified. While a small percentage of the cases were transmitted sexually, the majority of people became contracted the virus while traveling overseas, warranting the alarm for the recent cases in Florida.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said he’s confident in local mosquito control because they’ve successfully fought off outbreaks of West Nile, dengue fever and chikungunya. “Our top priority is to protect pregnant women from the potentially devastating harm caused by Zika”.

Over sixty states have reported evidence of Zika virus transmission since 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a situation report.

“The critical issue is to make sure that those local cases don’t become disseminated and don’t become sustained and the way you do that is with very aggressive mosquito abatement programs”, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Reports state that no further Zika cases were identified in the area. At home? At work? But imported cases into the county increase the chance of local spread to humans by mosquitoes, Williamson County officials told the Statesman. However, Congress left on a seven-week vacation without giving President Barack Obama’s administration any of the $1.9 billion it sought to battle the virus.

The White House says it should be a “wake-up call”.

“I’m freaking out… but at the same time I don’t want to freak out”, said Wynwood resident Zoe Schultze as she cradled her 6-month-old son in her arms while she stopped for coffee with her husband. “You can’t not go outside”.