Zika Won’t Hurt South Florida Tourism in Long Run

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement Friday that the transmission of Zika in Miami Beach was the most alarming development yet, and the threat to the country’s health and economy has never been greater. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said that the American people can not afford to wait any longer for action.

President Barack Obama requested $1.9 billion in emergency funds in February to develop a vaccine and control the mosquitoes that carry the virus. But lawmakers left Washington in mid-July for a seven-week recess without approving any of the money.

Abortion politics played a central role in the impasse.

“We’re in the midst of mosquito season and expect more Zika infections in the days and months to come”, said CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden.

Aerial spraying isn’t practical over South Beach because of the height of its buildings and strong winds over the narrow island city, Frieden said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quickly issued a second travel advisory Friday afternoon, saying pregnant women should also avoid the designated area of Miami Beach. The agency said that pregnant women who live in the area or have to travel there should take extra precautions to guard against mosquito bites, including wearing repellent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned pregnant women to stay out of that part of town in Miami Beach and in the Miami neighborhood of Wynwood.

The CDC said pregnant women also should continue to avoid travel to Miami’s Wynwood arts district. The CDC is tracking 529 pregnant women with the virus nationwide and almost 700 in those territories.

Health experts do stress that the vast majority of the more than 2,260 Zika infections so far reported in the continental United States have been linked to travel overseas – to countries with Zika outbreaks in Latin America or the Caribbean.

The new area of infection in South Beach is roughly 1.5 square miles between 8th and 28th streets, according to Florida’s Department of Health.

“Although the state of Florida, with CDC’s assistance, has mounted and continues to mount an aggressive response, the mosquitos are persistent and we won’t know for at least another couple of weeks if these aggressive control measures have worked”, Frieden said Friday.

It’s not just Miami Beach, but anything that happens in Miami Beach reverberates around the world.

Officials had previously said Zika was spreading in a one-square-mile zone north of downtown Miami called Wynwood, where more than two dozen people were believed to have been infected by mosquitoes carrying the virus.

Pregnant girls are warned to steer clear of the global tourist destination Miami Beach, amid instances of the Zika virus.

And on Thursday, Puerto Rican health officials reported that 30 people have been diagnosed with a rare paralyzing condition that can be caused by Zika infection.

Elsewhere, Texas health officials on Monday reported what appears to be the first case of Zika infection traveling across state lines.

As of Friday, the Florida Department of Health counted 36 individuals in Florida who’ve become infected through local transmission and 488 individuals whose infections stemmed from traveling outside the country to an area of mosquito-borne transmission or from having sex with such a traveler.

He said that state health investigators had only finished their inquiry into the new cases Friday morning and that he had rushed to Miami to deliver the news and meet with local leaders.

A Miami Beach official says there’s been no confirmation that mosquitoes have spread the Zika virus in the tourism-dependent city.

“Between our efforts and the county’s spraying efforts, the last thing I’d ever want to be on Miami Beach is a mosquito”, Levine said.

“For this reason, it is possible that other neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County have active Zika transmission that is not yet apparent”, the CDC’s statement said. However, the department also is investigating over six other infections outside that area.