The beat and the bug spray go on in South Beach amid Zika threat

MIAMI BEACH — Michal Keren David stood alone amid the confectionery swirl that draws millions to the adult playground of South Beach, clutching not a minty mojito or even a ubiquitous cellphone, but one of the very latest symbols of life here: mosquito repellent.

As she spritzed herself next to a sidewalk cafe on Lincoln Road, David lamented her ill timing. Just Friday morning, as she headed to fly out of New York, bound for a weekend in Miami, she said she learned the latest news about Zika. The mosquitoborne virus, which can cause birth defects in fetuses, had found a new, albeit small home on South Beach.

Ordinarily, she said, she might have simply shrugged off the news.

“I’m thinking of trying to get pregnant in the next month,” said David, 32. “We thought maybe about canceling, but we also thought we have to live our lives. This will get to New York City, too. It will be all over the place.”

On Friday, this rollicking southern slice of Miami Beach became the second official target zone of the Zika-carrying mosquito, Aedes aegypti, in the continental United States. The discovery forced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to advise pregnant women not to venture into a 1.5-squaremile area.

But federal health offi- cials also warned them to consider postponing travel to Miami-Dade County.

“There is always something going on,” said Yesenia Medina, 40, a respiratory therapist from Miami who sat at an outdoor bar, Campton Yard, which had installed automatic insecticide misters even before the Zika scare.

Claudia Iraheta, 21, a hostess, stood nearby at the Penguin Hotel cafe cradling menus over her pronounced belly. The Zika virus is no casual concern for her.

“I was scared, paranoid,” said Iraheta, who moved to Miami from El Salvador a decade ago. But work is work, so she slathered on repellent and put on long pants, despite the sweltering heat.