Page 10 The Skanner August 3, 2016
News
CDC Warns Pregnant Women Against Zika-Stricken Part of Miami
By Kelli Kennedy and Josh Replogle
Associated Press
MIAMI — Government health oi-
cials warned pregnant women Monday
to avoid a Zika-stricken part of Miami
and told couples who have been there
recently to put of having children for
at least two months, ater the number
of people feared infected through mos-
quito bites in the U.S. climbed to 14.
In its highly unusual and perhaps un-
precedented travel warning, the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention
also said expectant mothers should get
tested for the virus if they have visited
the neighborhood since mid-June.
All 14 cases are thought to have oc-
curred in Miami’s Wynwood arts dis-
trict, a trendy, fast-gentrifying neigh-
borhood of warehouses, art galleries,
restaurants and boutiques.
Gov. Rick Scott asked for a CDC emer-
gency response team to help Florida
combat Zika, which has been sweeping
“
that mosquitoes have apparently start-
ed spreading Zika on the U.S. mainland,
citing four cases they strongly believe
were caused by bites. Ten more cases
were announced Monday, even though
Florida authorities have yet to ind any
mosquitoes actually carrying the vi-
rus.
CDC oicials said they could not re-
member another time in the 70-year
history of the disease-ighting agency
when it told members of the public not
to travel someplace in the U.S.
Zika infections in pregnant women
can cause severe brain-related birth
defects, including extremely small
skulls. The global outbreak has led to
more than 1,800 serious defects.
The virus can linger in the blood and
urine for weeks, and has been found
in sperm for months. As a result, the
CDC said men and women who have re-
cently been in the afected area should
wait at least eight weeks before trying
to conceive a child. And men who have
CDC oicials said they could not remember
another time in the 70-year history of the dis-
ease-ighting agency when it told members of
the public not to travel someplace in the U.S.
Latin America and the Caribbean in re-
cent months and now may be gaining a
long-dreaded foothold in the U.S. The
White House said a team will be sent
quickly.
Health oicials last Friday announced
had symptoms of Zika should wait at
least six months, the CDC said.
The travel warning covers an area of
about one square mile in Wynwood to
the east of Interstate 95 and south of
I-195. It’s large enough, health oicials
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AP PHOTO/ALAN DIAZ
All 14 cases are thought to have occurred in Miami’s rapidly-gentrifying Wynwood arts district
A Miami-Dade County mosquito control worker sprays around a home in the Wynwood area of Miami on
Monday, Aug. 1, 2016. The CDC has issued a new advisory that says pregnant women should not travel a
Zika-stricken part of Miami, and pregnant women who live there should take steps to prevent mosquito
bites and sexual spread of the virus.
said, to provide a bufer around the
suspected hot zone. The tropical mos-
quito that spreads Zika travels less than
200 yards in its lifetime.
Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical medicine
expert at the Baylor College of Medi-
cine in Texas, said the CDC should be
more cautious and expand the travel
advisory to all of Miami-Dade County.
“If you’re pregnant or think you
might be pregnant, avoid travel to Mi-
ami, and possibly elsewhere in South
Florida,” he said. “I’m guessing most
women who are pregnant are doing
that. I don’t think they’re sitting around
waiting for the CDC to split hairs and
ine-tune it to a speciic area.”
CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said
the narrowly drawn warning was dic-
tated by science and not by any concern
for Florida’s crucial tourism industry.
He said it was based on the nation’s
ability to contain previous outbreaks
of other diseases carried by the same
mosquito.
“There wouldn’t be a technical or sci-
entiic basis to give a broader recom-
mendation,” Frieden said.
U.S. health oicials have said all along
that while isolated clusters of Zika may
occur in this country, they do not ex-
pect major outbreaks like those seen
in Latin America, because of better
sanitation and mosquito control and
widespread use of air conditioners and
window screens.
At the same time, health oicials ex-
pressed concern that they continue to
see “moderately high” numbers of the
type of mosquito that carries Zika, de-
spite aggressive use of insecticides in
Florida.
“This is a very diicult mosquito to
control,” Frieden said.
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