"We advise
pregnant women to avoid travel to this area," said Centres for Disease
Control and Prevention chief Tom Frieden, noting that the virus can cause the
birth defect, Microcephaly.
The area to avoid is
inside a one-mile section north of downtown Miami, a popular arts and
restaurant district known as Wynwood.
Women who are
pregnant and may have travelled to the area since June 15 are urged to talk
with their doctor, Frieden added.
New CDC advice for people living in, traveling to Wynwood neighborhood in
Miami, FL, area w.#Zika infections. https://t.co/uAiEdEdRRM
— CDC (@CDCgov) August 1, 2016
Women in the area who are pregnant are also urged to use barrier protection
during sex, or to abstain in order to lower the risk of transmission from a
partner.
He also recommended people use mosquito repellent, wear long sleeves,
repair screens and drain any standing water in the area to prevent the spread
of the mosquitoes.
"In Miami, aggressive mosquito control measures don't seem to be
working as well as we would have liked," said Frieden.
He said it was possible that mosquitoes are resistant to insecticides
currently being used, or that they may have hidden breeding areas that haven't
been found yet.
We are sending CDC Emergency Response Team to FL; incl. experts in #Zika,
pregnancy & birth defects, vector control to assist w. response.
— Dr. Tom Frieden
(@DrFriedenCDC) August 1, 2016
Frieden said most people with Zika do not show any symptoms.
"Nothing that we have seen indicates widespread transmission but it is
certainly possible there could be sustained transmission in certain
areas."
On Friday, Florida officials announced the first locally transmitted cases
of Zika in the United States with all four linked to the same area in Miami.
Early Monday, Governor Rick Scott said the number of identified cases had
jumped by10 to 14.
The cases mark the first time the Zika virus, which can cause birth defects
and is considered particularly dangerous for pregnant women, is known to be
spreading via local mosquitoes in the United States.
Over 1,600 cases of Zika have been previously reported in the US, but most
were brought by travellers who were infected elsewhere. The virus can also
spread by sexual contact.
The CDC is sending an emergency team of specialists to augment its
response, Frieden said.
Zika is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and also by sexual contact.
Two of the 14 cases involve women and the rest are men.
Funding for the Zika response has been a source of dispute among US
lawmakers.
President Barack Obama asked for $1.9 billion in February, but Republicans
protested, saying the money should be taken from funds previously set aside for
Ebola. Congress went on summer recess last month without approving any
legislation for Zika funds.
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