MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Health officials are considering whether one of Florida’s newest Zika patients got infected by a Florida mosquito.
The case, which was reported in Miami-Dade County, could indicate whether Zika has entered the state’s mosquito population.
The case in Miami-Dade County doesn’t appear to be travel-related or sexually transmitted, Florida International University infectious disease expert Dr. Aileen Marty said.
She expects the investigation by the Florida Health Department and CDC to be meticulous.
“All of those things have to definitely be ruled out now in this particular case,” she said. “In addition, they are going to have to do a very careful determination of where the individual lives, where they work and where they have been playing for the last couple of weeks.”
Authorities in Central Florida are already taking steps to monitor mosquitoes.
Orange County Mosquito Control manager Kelly Deutsch has brought on extra staff to help conduct inspections.
The employees are checking buckets and garbage cans for standing water, which are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Orange County residents are doing their part too.
As part of his day’s yard work, Roger Bates is on the lookout for standing water.
His mother lives with him and she’s worried about Zika.
“We get inches of rain and then it just sits. So if there’s no way to control it and get it out of your backyard, it’s just going to sit there,” he said.
Bates said he installed a new drainage system, but there’s only so much he can do to keep the area dry.
The Miami-Dade case is serious because it may be the first non-travel related case in the state.
“We haven’t had any confirmed, locally-acquired cases yet and it’s new if we do. That means it’s traveling in the mosquito population,” said Deutsch.
Orange County has 33 travel-related cases, which is the third-highest in Florida.
The Mosquito Control unit recently for an extra $95,000 from the state to buy more supplies and hire 10 temporary staffers.
“The new people are able to go and do neighborhood inspections by themselves. Now, basically, we can cover a lot more area than we could before,” said Deutsch.
The county has helped investigate more than 300 suspected cases since February. Deutsch said that involves reviewing a patient's travel history and checking their neighborhood for standing water.
As of July 13 there have been 1,306 confirmed cases of Zika in the continental U.S. and Hawaii, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Utah man who got Zika while taking care of his infected father has researchers scratching their heads.
Until now, experts thought the Zika virus could only be spread by mosquitoes and sexual contact with an infected person.
The man’s elderly father died in late June, the CDC said.
A blood sample taken after his death showed the amount of virus in his system was more than 100,000 times higher than what has been seen in samples from other infected persons, the CDC said.
In Florida, if the Zika infection is found to have been spread by local mosquitoes, the areas where that person may have been bitten will be thoroughly sprayed, Marty said.
Florida has one of the best mosquito control programs in the country and this isn’t the first mosquito-borne disease the state has contended with, she said.
Cox Media Group
