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NYC Health Officials Warn Pregnant Women Against Traveling To Miami Beach
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Aug 20, 2016
Modified Aug 20, 2016
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Aug 20, 2016
Modified Aug 20, 2016
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The city health department is warning pregnant women not to travel to parts of Miami Beach, following federal officials' confirmation that mosquitos in the area are transmitting the Zika virus to humans. The Wynwood section of Miami is also included in the travel warning. "The Health Department strongly advises women in New York City who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, and their male or female sexual partner, to avoid visiting these two areas of Miami-Dade County, Florida," Commissioner Mary T. Bassett said in a statement.
Health officials say 36 people have been infected by the Zika virus in Wynwood and Miami Beach since July. Though officials don't think the disease will spread as drastically as it did in Latin America and in the Caribbean, thanks to air-conditioning and the proliferation of window screens, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has still added the affected parts of Miami-Dade County to the list of countries to which pregnant women should avoid traveling.
The affected sections of Miami Beach include the very tourist-heavy South Beach, and a number of tourists, including at least one from New York, contracted the virus there. CDC officials expect more cases to pop up soon. "It is possible that other neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County have active Zika transmission that is not yet apparent," CDC director Thomas Frieden told reporters yesterday.
Hence the NYC Health Commissioner's warning—nearly 500 New Yorkers have been diagnosed with Zika since January, and the city wants to make sure pregnant women are not exposed to the virus. "We ask any pregnant New Yorker and their partner who have recently traveled to one of these two areas recently to contact their healthcare provider to determine if they should be tested," Bassett said in a statement.
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Rebecca Fishbein
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