Zika Update (Good News!)

December 10th, 2016

The New York Times reported today in an article titled, “No New Local Zika Transmissions in Florida, Governor Says” that there have been no signs of Zika infected mosquitos in Florida.  This is great news, as the concern for Zika especially among pregnant women or couples planning pregnancy has caused many cancelled trips to the Sunshine State.  The current thinking is that the drop in temperature and the mosquito killing efforts have prevented the Aedes aegypti mosquito from reproducing.  However, we shouldn’t start celebrating yet.  Zika will likely still be a problem next summer.  Because Florida has many visitor from South America and the Caribbean, which still have a significant amount of infections, the virus may return when the mosquitos start reproducing in large numbers again.

If you live in Florida, particularly Miami, it is important to drain any areas around your home of any standing water.  Mosquitos can breed in as water as small as a bottle cap.  Everyone needs to do what they can to help prevent the Zika virus from coming back and every little bit counts!