Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
The virus is now spreading in Miami proper as it becomes established in Florida with reports of local transmission occurring. This comes as new study shows that Zika may not just be a threat to fetus' and pregnant women but may actually attack neural progenitor cells in adults which can lead to long term memory loss.
"I would not be surprised if we see cases in Texas, in Louisiana, particularly now where you have a situation with flooding in Louisiana," Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC television's This Week broadcast Sunday. Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, believes the Gulf region is ripe for ZIka because it is a "sub-tropical or semi-tropical region with the right mosquitoes and individuals who have travel related cases."
He said the U.S. has to be prepared for a "broad outbreak" of Zika, but he does not think that is likely because of what Fauci calls "conditions" in the U.S. "Hopefully, we get to a point to where we could suppress it so we won't have any risk of it," he said. The Centers for Disease Control has warned pregnant women to avoid the popular South Beach area of Miami Beach, Florida and the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami after seven suspected Zika cases were discovered last week.
The mosquito borne virus has spread across much of Latin America and the Caribbean, and has recently surfaced in the continental U.S. Zika causes mild or no symptoms in most victims. But it is linked to a severe birth defect called microcephaly in pregnant women, in which babes are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.
Top Expert: US Can Expect Zika to 'Hang Around' for 2 More Years
Five cases of Zika have been connected to mosquitoes in Miami Beach, bringing the state's caseload to 36 infections not related to travel outside the U.S., Florida's governor and health department announced Friday. The discovery prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to announce that it was expanding its travel warning for pregnant women to include an area in Miami Beach known for nightclubs, pedestrian thoroughfares and beaches. Zika infection can cause severe brain-related birth defects, including a dangerously small head, if women are infected during pregnancy. The virus's apparent spread from a Miami neighborhood popular for day trips to the South Beach streets where many tourists sleep has rattled the tourism industry, even in the slower summer season.
Gov. Rick Scott has directed Florida's health department to offer mosquito spraying and related services at no cost to Miami-Dade County's hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. More than 15.5 million people made overnight visits to Miami and nearby beaches in 2015, with an impact of $24.4 billion, according to figures from the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. The CDC previously warned pregnant women to avoid the Wynwood arts district in Miami. In its statement Friday, the agency said pregnant women may also want to consider postponing nonessential travel throughout Miami-Dade County if they're concerned about potential exposure to the mosquito-borne virus. "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. "It is difficult to predict how long active transmission will continue."
Aerial spraying and door-to-door operations on the ground have cut mosquito populations in Wynwood by up to 90 percent, but Zika may be continuing as mosquitoes breed, Frieden told reporters Friday. "The mosquitoes are persistent and we won't know for a couple of weeks whether these aggressive measures have worked," Frieden said. 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. Officials will be limited to spraying for mosquitoes at ground level in the highly populated area. "Miami Beach does have a series of characteristics that make it particularly challenging," Frieden said.
Two of the people infected in Miami Beach are Miami-Dade County residents, and three are tourists, including one man and two women, Scott said. The tourists are residents of New York, Texas and Taiwan. 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. Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said during a news conference Friday afternoon that the Zika reports certainly aren't ideal for tourism, but he expects the long-term impact to be relatively minor. He said city workers are trying to get rid of standing water and foliage that might attract the virus-spreading insects, while the county begins a fumigation program to kill the bugs. "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.
Three vacuum trucks purchased to help Miami Beach fight rising sea levels have been used since the beginning of the year to drain water in low-lying areas where mosquitoes could breed, said Roy Coley, the city's infrastructure director. The city also has been sending workers to fill potholes collecting water in alleys and fix leaky beach showers, in addition to applying pesticides to the area's many construction sites and flood-prone residential streets, Coley said. "Our call volume has increased significantly," Coley said.
MORE
Breaking: Zika virus spreads to Miami as officials discover it may also affect the brains of adults
The virus is now spreading in Miami proper as it becomes established in Florida with reports of local transmission occurring. This comes as new study shows that Zika may not just be a threat to fetus' and pregnant women but may actually attack neural progenitor cells in adults which can lead to long term memory loss.
http://www.newsweek....em-cells-491674
We better take this seriously.
