1 of 1- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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CDC issues historic travel warning over Miami Zika outbreak
CDC issues historic travel warning over Miami Zika outbreak
(CNN)The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an unprecedented travel warning Monday, advising pregnant women and their partners not to travel to a small community just north of downtown Miami, where Zika is actively circulating. This is the first time the CDC has warned people not to travel to an American neighborhood for fear of catching an infectious disease, according to agency spokesman Tom Skinner.
The warning came after 10 additional people in Florida were found to have been infected with Zika virus after being bitten by local mosquitoes, bringing the total to 14.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden announced the development in separate news conferences Monday. The new cases were found by door-to-door surveys of 200 people in their homes and businesses, and they were identified by urine and blood samples that tested positive for the virus or an antibody.
Late last week, Florida state health officials confirmed that four people had contracted Zika from mosquitoes in the same 150-square-meter area. It's a mixed-use development with upscale as well as economically stressed businesses and homes, which Frieden said complicates mosquito control efforts.
"New test measurements over the weekend showed a risk of continued active transmission in that area," Frieden said. "Because of this finding, we are advising pregnant women not to travel to that area and if they have traveled there on or after June 15 to visit their health care provider for testing."
Additional precautions recommended by the CDC about the Miami outbreak include:
Pregnant women who live in or travel to the area should be tested for Zika infection in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, even if they have no symptoms of the virus.
Pregnant women and their male and female partners who live in the area should prevent mosquito bites and use proper sexual protection for the length of the pregnancy, or abstain from sex altogether.
Male or female partners of pregnant women who have traveled to this area should use safe sex measures for the rest of the pregnancy.
Women and men who have traveled to the affected area should wait eight weeks to conceive after their return, while men with symptoms should wait a full six months.
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- Rongone
- Sentient Being
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Re: CDC issues historic travel warning over Miami Zika outbreak
OK, so the CDC has basically quarantined a one square mile neighborhood just outside of center city Miami. They say that mosquitos, the carrier of the Zika virus, only fly about within a 430 foot area from where they are located. By identifying this one square mile area, the restricted flying zone of a mosquito, and containment actions like spraying, they feel the danger will be eliminated.
My question is, what about the person that visits this area, gets bitten by an infected mosquito, leaves the one square mile area to go back to their own neighborhood, gets bitten by another mosquito, that now becomes an infected carrier of the Zika virus and spreads the disease further? And, can an infected person pass the virus to another person through ay kind of contact?
I understand this action taken by the CDC is an effort to contain the spread of the disease, which is the proper thing to do, but is the one square mile thing just kind of a security blanket, feel good facade?
- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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Re: CDC issues historic travel warning over Miami Zika outbreak
I think that you have an excellent point.
In fact, it looks like the virus has already escaped the area.
Perhaps political pressure forces the CDC to to make the quarantined area artificially small?
I'm sure that any businessman who thinks that he will lose a tourist buck will get on the phone to their congressman in a heartbeat to get his business excluded from a quarantine.
Last edited by Goose (8/03/2016 8:32 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
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