‘Zika is now here’: Virus spreads on US mainland
itation, better mosquito control and wider use of window screens and air conditioners.
The virus has triggered alarm across the Western Hemisphere’s warmer latitudes. While most people who get Zika don’t even know they are sick, infection during pregnancy can cause severe brain-related birth defects, including disastrously small heads.
More than 1,650 people in the mainland U.S. have been infected with Zika in recent months, nearly all while traveling abroad. The four people in Florida are believed to be the first to contract the virus from mosquitoes within the 50 states.
“This is not just a Florida issue. It’s a national issue — we just happen to be at the forefront,” Scott said.
Florida agricultural officials immediately announced more aggressive mosquito-control efforts, and Florida politicians rushed to assure tourists it’s still safe to visit the state.
Some medical experts said pregnant women should not travel to the Miami area, especially if the visit involves spending time outdoors. The CDC is not issuing such advice, however.
Health officials said the U.S. might see small clusters of infections. But “we don’t expect widespread transmission in the continental United States,” the CDC’s Frieden said.
The four Florida infections are thought to have occurred in a small area just north of downtown Miami, in the Wynwood arts district, the governor said.
The area, known for bold murals spray-painted across warehouses, art galleries, restaurants and boutiques, is rapidly gentrifying and has a number of construction sites where standing water can collect and serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
People in Florida’s Miami-Dade and Broward counties are being tested to learn whether there are more cases, the governor said.
“If I were a pregnant woman right now, I would go on the assumption that there’s mosquito transmission all over the Miami area,” warned Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical medicine expert at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.