Carrier on U. S. soil a ‘ game changer’

Some health experts fear increase in birth defects as Zika keeps spreading

Some American athletes and sports fans canceled plans to attend the Olympics next month in Brazil for fear of contracting the Zika virus.

Now the apparent spread of Zika to Florida, confirmed by Gov. Rick Scott on Friday, means that Americans could face the risk of becoming infected in their own backyards.

Scott announced that four Florida residents were likely infected with Zika, which can cause devastating birth defects, in a 1- square- mile area just north of downtown Miami. Although doctors

“Our nation must accelerate education and prevention efforts.” Edward McCabe, senior vice president and chief medical officer at the March of Dimes

have diagnosed 1,658 Zika cases in the continental U. S. and Hawaii, until now all the cases were related to travel and, in one case, a lab accident.

“This is a game changer,” said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “I’m concerned that this is just the beginning.”

Pregnant women, doctors and public officials need to take Zika seriously, Hotez said. The virus could be spreading undetected in other steamy areas of the southern U. S., few of which test mosquitoes for Zika.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t suggested Americans alter their travel plans or that women postpone pregnancy. The agency has advised pregnant women to wear mosquito repellent, pants and long sleeves when outdoors, and to spend as much time in screened, air- conditioned buildings as they can. Hotez said that advice may not go far enough. “We may need to advise pregnant women to avoid the Miami area” during the summer, when mosquitoes are most active, he said.

Other public health experts worry about more birth defects in babies.

“This is the news we’ve been dreading,” said Edward McCabe, senior vice president and chief medical officer at the March of Dimes. His group is “deeply concerned” about home- grown mosquitoes, he said.

“It’s only a matter of time before babies are born with microcephaly, a severe brain defect,” McCabe said. “Our nation must accelerate education and prevention efforts.”