The Florida Department of Health believes the mosquitoes responsible for the four cases are active in a small area just north of downtown Miami, says Governor Rick Scott, according to USA Today.
In a statement released by the Florida Department of health, they say, “While no mosquitoes trapped tested positive for the Zika virus, the department believes these cases were likely transmitted through infected mosquitoes in this area.”
CNN is reporting that Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Friday, “all the evidence we have seen indicates that this is a mosquito-borne transmission that occurred several weeks ago.”
Health officials are now conducting a door-to-door investigation, asking residents for urine samples and getting other information regarding the health of individuals to determine how many people have been infected with the virus. More cases are anticipated.
One of the problems with being infected with the Zika virus is that upwards of 80 percent of those infected don’t know they have the virus. Symptoms can include having a fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes, and they can last from a few days to about a week.
Again, people are reminded that there is no treatment for the Zika virus disease, and there is not a vaccine. So far this year, Florida has seen 386 cases of the Zika virus, including 55 pregnant women.
Blood donations halted
Primary transmission of the Zika virus is through the bite of an infected female Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito. But it has been discovered that this is not the only way Zika can be transmitted to humans.
Humans can become infected through sexual intercourse, and babies can become infected “in utero,” meaning while they are still in the mother’s womb. There are also confirmed cases of Zika being passed through blood transfusions and by laboratory accidents, according to CNN.
As a precaution, blood donation centers in the affected area have stopped taking blood donations until measures to screen the donated blood have been implemented, or a way is found to deactivate the virus. Actually, on Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked that blood donation centers across the country not accept blood from individuals who had traveled to Miami-Dade or Broward Counties in the past four weeks.
