FLORIDA, USA- Four people who have contracted the Zika virus in Florida, early this July, have disease carrying mosquitos to blame, says the local health department. Although there have been numerous accounts of people contracting the Zika virus in the U.S., the Florida cases are among the first where in the victims have not travelled to where the virus is known to be prevalent.
The major concern for the local officials, namely the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the C.D.C., is the area in the Wynwood neighbourhood of Miami. The officials have pinpointed the area as a breeding ground for the virus-carrying mosquitoes.
While the director of the C.D.C, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, was quoted saying at a recent C.D.C. tele-briefing that "In terms of travel into the locations, we don't currently see a situation where we would advise people not to travel there or advise pregnant women not to travel there". This is likely soon to change when the number of Zika virus cases increase in the vicinity.
A recent report from DirectRelief.org says that the CDC. currently confirms more than 2,000 cases of Zika virus in over 46 states and 3 territories in the United States, but the ones in Florida were the first to contract the virus without travelling abroad to where the virus is more common.
In South America, the spread of the Zika virus has become rampant. Transmitted by unprotected sex, blood transfusions, and the mosquitoes that carry the virus, is slowly becoming an epidemic. According to Vice News, Brazil alone has had 90,000 suspected cases of the Zika virus in it's first nationwide statistical sweep.
The symptoms of the Zika virus in adults are not necessarily harmful, ranging from no symptoms to slight fevers, with the exception of the rare temporary paralysis that it can cause. In developing infants, the virus may cause a condition called microcephaly, an abnormality where an infant is born with an unusually small head, associated with incomplete brain development.
There is still currently no vaccine or specific treatment for the Zika Virus according to the C.D.C., and the best way to prevent the disease is to avoid initial contraction by keeping areas clean and free of mosquitos, not engaging in unprotected sex, and planning future travels to insure safety.
