Zika Virus: Citizens warned to steer clear of Florida

Zika, a virus spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, poses the most serious risk to pregnant women. These public comments were reviewed by the FDA-led team before the final documents were published today. “The CDC, our Centers for Disease Control & Prevention have given a travel alert saying that pregnant women should not travel there”, Dr. Anthony Fauci from the National Institutes of Health told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on AM 970 in NY in an interview Sunday.

Biotech company Oxitec is behind the project, having engineered male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that can pass a fatal gene on to all offspring produced with females in the wild. That Florida Keys board voted to hold a non-binding referendum on the trial as part of the November elections.

Zika spread rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean before local transmission began in the continental United States. Now the Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to test these insects out in the U.S., meaning thousands of the lab-designed mosquitoes could soon be released on a small island in the Florida Keys. The Zika virus has flared in South and Central America and the Caribbean, with thousands of cases; as of August 3 Florida health officials have found 15 infections that appear to be from local mosquito bites.

As of August 5, 2016, there have been 351 confirmed travel-related cases and 16 locally-acquired cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in the Sunshine State.

The health department will trap and test mosquito pools for Cabell County residents.

“The key is to follow this closely as the Florida officials are doing, testing a lot of people and testing a lot of mosquitoes to look for the virus”, Taylor said in an interview with CBC’s Power and Politics.

Brazil and the Cayman Islands are releasing Oxitec’s insects. Michael added that several states in the southern part of the USA are dealing with cases of the Zika virus but no restrictions have been placed on them.

Genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes could be let loose in Florida’s battle against the Zika virus if regulators approve them – and a decision is expected imminently, according to British firm Oxitec that engineers the insects.

“The most fearful thing is, I don’t want to have a child with some of the severe cerebral defects that are being talked about, including microcephaly”, Acero said. We need to keep it contained by good mosquito control. The agency has suggested that alternative approaches to fighting mosquitoes that carry the virus might be an important way to suppress mosquito populations.