Miami area clear of Zika, spray cited

MIAMI — Authorities are declaring victory in stemming further infections of Zika in Miami’s Wynwood arts district, but continued to caution pregnant women about traveling to the city and surrounding areas out of concerns for catching the virus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted its warning yesterday for pregnant women to stay out of the Wynwood neighborhood altogether, saying it was no longer a zone of active transmission. They credited aerial spraying of pesticides targeting the mosquitoes that transmit the virus.

In nearby Miami Beach, meanwhile, health officials have broadened their declared zone of active local transmission.

No new cases of Zika have been reported in Wynwood since early August. Health officials said that over the past several weeks, mosquito control workers there have seen fewer of the insects, the main culprits in spreading the virus.

“The message with Wynwood is it was a huge success,’” said Dr. Lyle Petersen of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC continues to advise pregnant women to consider postponing nonessential travel to all of Miami-Dade County — including Wynwood and Miami Beach.

Wynwood was the first place on the U.S. mainland where mosquitoes began transmitting Zika. CDC officials and Florida’s governor attributed the dropoff in infections there to aggressive aerial spraying with naled, an insecticide that targets adult mosquitoes, and street-level spraying with another pesticide that kills mosquito larva.

“This outbreak would have kept going without the aerial spraying,” Petersen said.