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Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-persp...rida-zika-case
Local transmission suspected in Florida Zika case
Filed Under:
Chikungunya; Zika
Lisa Schnirring | News Editor | CIDRAP News
| Jul 20, 2016
An investigation is under way to confirm if a recent Zika infection reported from Florida 's Miami-Dade County was contracted from local mosquitoes, which would make it the first such case in the continental United States, health officials announced yesterday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that limited local spread of Zika virus is likely in some parts of the southern United States where Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are present. Though detection of a local case on the mainland wouldn't be surprising, the discovery would trigger additional response steps.
Limited local spread of chikungunya, another mosquito-borne disease, was seen in 2014, with the nation's first two locally transmitted cases reported from two Florida counties, one of them Miami-Dade. Texas was the only other state to report a local chikungunya case, in an individual who got sick in November 2015 and whose infection was confirmed in January.
In March, a Zika risk map for the continental United States issued by two atmospheric research teams pinpointed Miami as the most vulnerable area, followed by several other cities in Florida and along the southeastern coasts.
Local response steps
The CDC is collaborating on the probe, and in a statement yesterday the Florida Department of Health said mosquito control authorities are already conducting reduction and prevention activities near the area where the case was detected.
The Associated Press (AP) today, citing an unnamed source familiar with the case, said the patient is an adult woman. Florida Health said in its statement that it would share more details when available.
Also, Florida Health said it is distributing Zika prevention kits and repellent for pregnant women in the affected area and is making them available for pickup at its Miami-Dade office.
In its daily Zika update today, Florida officials said 284 travel-related Zika infections have been reported in the state, with the largest number of them (89 cases) from Miami-Dade County. The state is monitoring 43 pregnant women with evidence of Zika infection, regardless of symptoms, including 12 that meet the CDC's case definition.
Case confirmation would step up CDC response phase
According to the CDC draft Zika response plan for the continental United States, unveiled in June, confirmation of a locally acquired case or cases clustered in a single household would raise the level to phase 2.
Because state environmental factors vary widely, the agency doesn't have a formula to trigger specific response activities, and it said a starting point for defining local transmission is two or more cases not linked to travel or sexual transmission in nonhousehold members occurring in a 1-mile diameter over the course of 1 month.
The CDC has said it would reach out to states reporting local Zika cases to offer support with incident management activities and is standing by with CDC emergency response teams (CERTs), which can be deployed to help with technical and epidemiologic tasks and assist with risk communication, vector control, and response logistics.
Part of CDC's assistance involves help investigating the timing and source of infection, interviewing contacts and health providers, and facilitating testing of close contacts.
Other developments
See also:
Jul 19 Florida Health statement
Jul 20 AP story
CDC draft Zika response plan
Jul 20 Florida Health daily Zika update
Mar 16 CIDRAP News story "Cuba, Dominica report local Zika; study estimates US risk"
Local transmission suspected in Florida Zika case
Filed Under:
Chikungunya; Zika
Lisa Schnirring | News Editor | CIDRAP News
| Jul 20, 2016
An investigation is under way to confirm if a recent Zika infection reported from Florida 's Miami-Dade County was contracted from local mosquitoes, which would make it the first such case in the continental United States, health officials announced yesterday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that limited local spread of Zika virus is likely in some parts of the southern United States where Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are present. Though detection of a local case on the mainland wouldn't be surprising, the discovery would trigger additional response steps.
Limited local spread of chikungunya, another mosquito-borne disease, was seen in 2014, with the nation's first two locally transmitted cases reported from two Florida counties, one of them Miami-Dade. Texas was the only other state to report a local chikungunya case, in an individual who got sick in November 2015 and whose infection was confirmed in January.
In March, a Zika risk map for the continental United States issued by two atmospheric research teams pinpointed Miami as the most vulnerable area, followed by several other cities in Florida and along the southeastern coasts.
Local response steps
The CDC is collaborating on the probe, and in a statement yesterday the Florida Department of Health said mosquito control authorities are already conducting reduction and prevention activities near the area where the case was detected.
The Associated Press (AP) today, citing an unnamed source familiar with the case, said the patient is an adult woman. Florida Health said in its statement that it would share more details when available.
Also, Florida Health said it is distributing Zika prevention kits and repellent for pregnant women in the affected area and is making them available for pickup at its Miami-Dade office.
In its daily Zika update today, Florida officials said 284 travel-related Zika infections have been reported in the state, with the largest number of them (89 cases) from Miami-Dade County. The state is monitoring 43 pregnant women with evidence of Zika infection, regardless of symptoms, including 12 that meet the CDC's case definition.
Case confirmation would step up CDC response phase
According to the CDC draft Zika response plan for the continental United States, unveiled in June, confirmation of a locally acquired case or cases clustered in a single household would raise the level to phase 2.
Because state environmental factors vary widely, the agency doesn't have a formula to trigger specific response activities, and it said a starting point for defining local transmission is two or more cases not linked to travel or sexual transmission in nonhousehold members occurring in a 1-mile diameter over the course of 1 month.
The CDC has said it would reach out to states reporting local Zika cases to offer support with incident management activities and is standing by with CDC emergency response teams (CERTs), which can be deployed to help with technical and epidemiologic tasks and assist with risk communication, vector control, and response logistics.
Part of CDC's assistance involves help investigating the timing and source of infection, interviewing contacts and health providers, and facilitating testing of close contacts.
Other developments
- The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics are hosting a 2-day live webcast meeting, starting tomorrow, to review the clinical evaluation and management of babies with congenital Zika infections. The session tomorrow begins at 8:30 a.m. EST and will cover what's known about the science. Then on Jul 22 the group will air recommendations from the previous day's small-group discussions.
- The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Zika test from Viracor-IBT Laboratories. The test is designed to detect Zika RNA in human serum, plasma, or urine when collect alongside patient-matched serum of plasma specimens in patients who meet clinical or epidemiological criteria for the disease. The EUA only applies to testing at Viracor-IBT's lab in Lee's Summit, Mo., or at labs certified to perform high complexity tests.
- French researchers today described Zika virus RNA in the semen of a 27-year-old man 93 days after symptom onset shortly returning from Thailand, where he had been bitten by mosquitoes. They reported their findings today in the August issue of Lancet Infectious Diseases. The virus was found during testing as part of French protocols for men undergoing fertility preservation methods in advance of medical procedures, such as chemotherapy or radiological treatment. The patient was about to undergo aggressive treatment for a monophasic grade 2 synovial cell sarcoma. The researchers noted that people infected from nonepidemic areas such as Thailand can be infected with Zika virus and that prolonged shedding should be considered before taking steps to preserve fertility in advance of certain reproductive fertility measures.
See also:
Jul 19 Florida Health statement
Jul 20 AP story
CDC draft Zika response plan
Jul 20 Florida Health daily Zika update
Mar 16 CIDRAP News story "Cuba, Dominica report local Zika; study estimates US risk"