Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
The Department of Health has identified a new transmission zone for locally acquired Zika.
Gov. Rick Scott announced Thursday that health officials confirmed local transmissions are occurring in a small area in Miami-Dade County. The one-square mile area straddles Interstate 95 and stretches from N.W. 79th Street to the north to N.W. 63rd Street to the south, and N.W. 10th Avenue to the west and North Miami Avenue to the east.
“Today’s announcement of a new area in Miami of ongoing local transmission of the Zika virus underscores the urgent need for federal funding to combat the Zika virus,” said Scott in a statement. “It has been two weeks since federal funding to fight Zika was approved by Congress and signed by President Obama. However, Florida has not yet received a dime. We don’t need bureaucratic timelines — we need funding now.”
Health officials identified five people — two women and three men — infected with the virus from the area. Three live in the one-square mile identified, while two work in or have visited the area.
According to the governor’s office, Scott has allocated $61.2 million in state funds to combat the spread of Zika. Miami-Dade County has received $12.6 million of that sum.
“We have had more than 1,000 cases of Zika in our state, and Miami-Dade County continues to be the only area with ongoing active transmissions,” the governor said in a statement. “We have seen that aggressive mosquito control efforts have worked in areas like Wynwood and we hope the county also aggressively sprays in this area so we can limit the spread of this virus and protect pregnant women and their growing babies.”
The governor requested that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention work with the Miami-Dade Mosquito Control District to identify the best practices for defeating Zika.
There were 1,014 cases of Zika in Florida as of Oct. 12. According to the state health department, there were 153 locally transmitted cases of Zika in Florida.
