Health officials in Florida have identified 10 new cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infections in the neighborhood just north of downtown Miami where four other cases were reported earlier.
Persistent mosquito populations in southern Florida are the leading cause of the disease’s growing incursion into the continental United States, according to Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This suggests that there is a risk of continued, active transmission of Zika in that area,” Dr. Frieden said Aug. 1 during a press call regarding the discovery of new cases by Florida officials .
The CDC is issuing new recommendations for people who either have visited, are currently visiting, or plan to visit this Miami neighborhood at any point after June 15, the earliest known date on which the infected individuals could have been exposed to the virus.
Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant are advised to stay away from the neighborhood north of downtown Miami. Women who live in or around Miami, and who either are or plan to become pregnant, should take steps to protect themselves from mosquitoes. Individuals living in Miami should take precautions to prevent transmitting the disease sexually.
Additionally, the CDC is sending an Emergency Response Team to Florida to assist with efforts to quell the mosquito population and spread awareness about Zika virus prevention.
“These experts include individuals with extensive experience in Zika, in addressing pregnancy and birth defects, in mosquito control, in laboratory science, and community engagement,” Dr. Frieden said.
Dr. Frieden reiterated that controlling the local mosquito population is one of the most effective ways to stop ongoing Zika virus transmission. However, current efforts are being hampered by several factors, including small bodies of standing water near which mosquitoes are breeding, the inherent difficulty in killing this species of mosquito, and the possibility that the Aedes aegypti mosquito is resistant to the insecticides being used.
Vector control experts will work with health officials on the ground in Miami to conduct resistance testing on local mosquitoes, in order to confirm whether the insecticides are working. These tests could be done after just 1 week, but may take 3 or more weeks. Further discussion is also ongoing to determine other ways of bringing down the mosquito population.
“What we know about Zika is scary [but] in some ways, what we don’t know about Zika is even more unsettling,” said Dr. Frieden, who added that “at CDC, more than 1,600 of our experts have been working since January to learn more about Zika and protect the health of pregnant women and others.”
