Reuters

Gulf Times

Florida Health

August 18, 2016

Department of Health Daily Zika Update

Contact:
Communications Office
NewsMedia@flhealth.gov
(850) 245-4111

Tallahassee, Fla. — In an effort to keep Florida residents and visitors safe and aware about the status of the Zika virus, the department will continue to issue a Zika virus update each week day. Updates will include a CDC-confirmed Zika case count by county and information to better keep Floridians prepared.

The department has conducted testing for the Zika virus for more than 3,673 people statewide. Florida currently has the capacity to test 4,997 people for active Zika virus and 2,799 for Zika antibodies. Per the Governor’s direction on August 3, all county health departments are now offering free Zika risk assessment and testing to any pregnant woman who would like to be tested.

There are 18 new travel-related cases today with seven in Miami-Dade, four in Palm Beach, three in Broward, one in Brevard, one in Lee, one in Marion and one in Pinellas counties. Please visit our website to see the full list of travel-related cases.

There are two new non-travel related cases today, both are located outside of the one-square mile area in Miami-Dade County. While the department is continuing to investigate areas in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties where local transmissions of Zika may have occurred, the department still believes active transmissions are still only occurring in the area that is less than one square mile in Miami-Dade County.

For a complete breakdown of non-travel and travel-related Zika infections to-date, please see below.

ACTIVE INVESTIGATIONS

The department is currently conducting nine active investigations. We have moved the information regarding the investigations outside the Wynwood area to the Zika webpage, here.

Identified one-square mile in Miami-Dade – Two (2) original cases

Door to door outreach and sampling continue. Mosquito abatement and reduction activities are on-going.

On August 4, the department announced we have completed testing in a 10 block area of the northwest quadrant of the one-square mile area and no people within the 10 block radius tested positive. On August 11, the department announced that it completed testing in an additional four block area and no people within that four block area tested positive. A map detailing the area is below. The CDC continues to monitor the area per their guidelines.

CLOSED INVESTIGATIONS

• The department has closed out the investigations into the first cases in Miami-Dade and Broward County (two cases). The department tested 124 close contacts and individuals from the community and found no additional positives.

The department still believes active transmissions of the Zika virus are occurring in one small area in Miami-Dade County, just north of downtown. The exact location is within the boundaries of the following area: NW 5^th Avenue to the west, US 1 to the east, NW/NE 38^th Street to the north and NW/NE 20^th Street to the south. This area is about one square mile and a map is below to detail the area. This remains the only area of the state where the department has confirmed there are local transmissions of Zika. If investigations reveal additional areas of likely active transmission, the department will announce a defined area of concern.

One case does not mean active transmission is taking place and that’s why the department conducts a thorough investigation by sampling close contacts and community members around each case to determine if additional people are infected. The department has not yet determined where the individual in Palm Beach County or the nine individuals outside the one-square mile in Miami-Dade County likely contracted Zika and will share more details as the investigations progress. If the department finds evidence that active transmission is occurring in an area, we will notify the media and the public.

CDC recommends that women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant postpone travel to areas with widespread Zika infection. Florida’s small case cluster is not considered widespread transmission, however, pregnant women are advised to avoid non-essential travel to the impacted area in Miami-Dade County (see map below). If you are pregnant and must travel or if you live or work in the impacted area, protect yourself from mosquito bites by wearing insect repellent, long clothing and limiting your time outdoors.

According to CDC guidance, providers should consider testing all pregnant women with a history of travel to a Zika affected area for the virus. It is also recommended that all pregnant women who reside in or travel frequently to the area where active transmission is likely occurring be tested for Zika in the first and second trimester. Pregnant women in the identified area can contact their medical provider or their local county health department to be tested and receive a Zika prevention kit. CDC recommends that a pregnant woman with a history of Zika virus and her provider should consider additional ultrasounds. Additionally, the department is working closely with the Healthy Start Coalition of Miami-Dade County to identify pregnant women in the one square mile area to ensure they have access to resources and information to protect themselves. CDC recommends that a pregnant woman with a history of Zika virus and her provider should consider additional ultrasounds.

Pregnant women can contact their local county health department for Zika risk assessment and testing hours and information. A Zika risk assessment will be conducted by county health department staff and blood and/or urine samples may be collected and sent to labs for testing. It may take one to two weeks to receive results.

Florida has been monitoring pregnant women with evidence of Zika regardless of symptoms since January. The total number of pregnant women who have been or are being monitored is 63.

On Feb. 12, Governor Scott directed the State Surgeon General to activate a Zika Virus Information Hotline for current Florida residents and visitors, as well as anyone planning on traveling to Florida in the near future. The hotline, managed by the Department of Health, has assisted 4,216 callers since it launched. The number for the Zika Virus Information Hotline is 1-855-622-6735.

The department urges Floridians to drain standing water weekly, no matter how seemingly small. A couple drops of water in a bottle cap can be a breeding location for mosquitoes. Residents and visitors also need to use repellents when enjoying the Florida outdoors.

For more information on DOH action and federal guidance, please click here.

For resources and information on Zika virus, click  here.

About the Florida Department of Health

The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Twitter at  @HealthyFla and on  Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit  www.FloridaHealth.gov.

NY Times

“…..The first victims lived near a base housing 454 United Nations peacekeepers freshly arrived from Nepal, where a cholera outbreak was underway, and waste from the base often leaked into the river. …….”

LA Times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3C-G__IK_o

YALE

“….Smoke from wildfires, which are becoming more frequent and intense in the U.S. West as the climate changes, contains large amounts of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which can have profound impacts on human health…..”

“Smoke Wave”:  ≥2 consecutive days with high wildfire-specific PM_2.5, to describe episodes of high air pollution from wildfires.

“…..Under future climate change, we estimate that more than 82 million individuals will experience a 57 % and 31 % increase in the frequency and intensity, respectively, of Smoke Waves. Northern California, Western Oregon and the Great Plains are likely to suffer the highest exposure to widlfire smoke in the future……”

Liu, J.C., Mickley, L.J., Sulprizio, M.P., et al. “Particulate air pollution from wildfires in the Western US under climate change.” Climatic Change (2016). DOI: 10.1007/s10584-016-1762-6

NY Times

WHO

CDC

Symptoms

• The majority of persons infected with yellow fever virus have no illness or only mild illness.
• In persons who develop symptoms, the incubation period (time from infection until illness) is typically 3–6 days.
• The initial symptoms include sudden onset of fever, chills, severe headache, back pain, general body aches, nausea, and vomiting, fatigue, and weakness. Most persons improve after the initial presentation.
• After a brief remission of hours to a day, roughly 15% of cases progress to develop a more severe form of the disease. The severe form is characterized by high fever, jaundice, bleeding, and eventually shock and failure of multiple organs.

Treatment

• No specific treatments have been found to benefit patients with yellow fever. Whenever possible, yellow fever patients should be hospitalized for supportive care and close observation.
• Treatment is symptomatic. Rest, fluids, and use of pain relievers and medication to reduce fever may relieve symptoms of aching and fever.
• Care should be taken to avoid certain medications, such as aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. ibuprofen, naproxen), which may increase the risk of bleeding.
• Yellow fever patients should be protected from further mosquito exposure (staying indoors and/or under a mosquito net) for up to 5 days after the onset of fever. This way, yellow fever virus in their bloodstream will be unavailable to uninfected mosquitoes, thus breaking the transmission cycle and reducing risk to the persons around them.

Outcome

• The majority of infected persons will be asymptomatic or have mild disease with complete recovery.
• In persons who become symptomatic but recover, weakness and fatigue may last several months.
• Among those who develop severe disease, 20–50% may die.
• Those who recover from yellow fever generally have lasting immunity against subsequent infection.

CNN

NY Times