Texas health officials today reported a Zika illness in a resident who traveled to Miami, as Florida today reported two more locally acquired Zika infections in Miami-Dade County, signaling ongoing transmission in what officials think is still a small area.
The Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) said the patient, who is from El Paso County, is the state's first Zika case linked to travel within the continental United States, according to an e-mail press release.
The two developments come just days after another major US Zika development: the federal declaration of a public health emergency in Puerto Rico due to surging case numbers there. With the summer mosquito season in full swing, Puerto Rico and a handful of counties in southern Florida—both with rising numbers of local cases—are the US hot spots of Zika activity.
Travel and illness dates link Texas case to Miami
The Texas patient had recently returned from the Miami area and sought Zika testing after becoming ill, the TDSHS said. The department said it would classify the case as "travel-related" and that further investigation is in progress.
TDSHS said it linked the case to Miami after closely evaluating travel dates, symptom onset, and known local transmission in Miami. The patient's illness is El Paso County's first Zika case, and no evidence of the virus or local transmission has been detected before in the area.
So far, Texas has recorded 108 travel-linked Zika cases, 3 of them in pregnant women. However, health officials are on alert for local cases and Texas has taken steps since January to delay and minimize the impact of the virus.
Florida's local infection total climbs to 30
Florida's governor's office today said two more local transmissions have been confirmed in Miami-Dade County, raising the number of non-travel related Zika infections in the state to 30. In a statement, Gov Rick Scott said that despite the two additional cases, "We still believe local transmissions are only occurring in an area that is less than 1 square mile in Wynwood."
In a separate statement, the Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) said one of the patients was exposed in the affected Wynwood area and the second was located outside of the 1-square-mile area.
So far state health officials are investigating four areas in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties where local Zika transmission may have occurred—three in the former and one in the latter. However, Scott's office said Florida Health still believes active transmission is only occurring in the less than 1-square-mile area of Wynwood, a popular entertainment and dining district just north of downtown.
The state's agriculture department has tested 25,000 mosquitos for Zika, and so far none have come back positive. Experts have said that in local outbreak settings it's not unusual to find no positive samples in mosquito testing.
Ongoing local Zika activity on Aug 12 prompted a funding request from Miami-Dade County for more staff and more mosquito traps, which Scott said Florida Health will expedite. He said Florida Health has sought help on battling mosquitos in the outbreak area from experts around the state and that the agency has enlisted more help from commercial pest-control companies to help with containment efforts in Miami-Dade County.
In its daily update, Florida Health also reported 28 more travel-related cases and another in a pregnant woman. So far Florida has reported 440 travel-linked cases, plus 59 in pregnant women.
Emergency declaration for Puerto Rico clears way for more staffing
US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Aug 12 declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico based on a request from its governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla. The declaration came as Puerto Rico's Zika case count topped 10,000 through the end July. So far the health department there has reported 10,690 cases, 1,914 of them in the past week. Of the territory's total, 1,035 are in pregnant women.
"This emergency declaration allows us to provide additional support to the Puerto Rican government and reminds us of the importance of pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and their partners taking additional steps to protect themselves and their families from Zika," she said in an Aug 12 HHS statement.
In the statement, Garcia Padilla said he was thankful for the Obama Administration's support and wants to do everything possible to fight the virus. "The declaration made by the HHS, which grants access to certain funds, is another example of collaboration between the federal government and the government of Puerto Rico."
According to the HHS, the emergency declaration clears the way for Puerto Rico to apply for funds to hire and train unemployed workers to help with vector control and outbreak efforts through the US Department of Labor's National Dislocated Worker Grant Program, and to request temporary reassignments for health department personnel who are funded through the Public Health Service Act to assist with the Zika response.
See also:
Aug 15 TDSHS press release
Aug15 Gov Rick Scott statement
Aug 15 Florida Health daily Zika update
Aug 12 HHS press release
Aug 12 Puerto Rico weekly arbovirus report
