The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced Friday that it has detected Zika in one mosquito sample from the same small area in Miami Beach, where four other samples had previously tested positive for Zika.
All samples have consisted of Aedes aeqypti mosquitoes and are from an area where increased trapping and intensified mosquito control measures have already been underway since the Florida Department of Health determined local transmission had occurred.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has tested more than 3,200 mosquito samples, consisting of more than 52,000 mosquitoes, since May, and these five samples are the only ones to test positive.
Miami-Dade County has submitted 375 additional mosquito samples subsequent to the collection date of the first positive mosquito pool finds, and those 375 mosquito samples have tested negative for Zika.
The positive mosquito pool announced yesterday was collected in Miami Beach within the current zone that has been treated for local transmission. Scientists with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services tested the sample at the Bronson Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Kissimmee.
A summary of the five total positive mosquito samples to date is as follows:
- Sept. 16, 2016: One mosquito sample from a small area in Miami Beach tested positive for Zika.
- Sept. 9, 2016: One mosquito sample from a small area in Miami Beach tested positive for Zika.
- Sept. 1, 2016: Three mosquito samples from a small area in Miami Beach tested positive for Zika.
Florida’s proactive efforts, which are conducted by local mosquito control programs and supported by the expertise provided by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, include: eliminating larval habitats by emptying standing water, treating water-holding containers with long-lasting larvicide, providing outdoor residual and spatial insecticide treatments to reduce adult vectors, and conducting adult mosquito surveillance to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments.
Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Control team will continue to conduct inspections to reduce mosquito breeding and perform spray treatments as necessary in a 200-yard radius around the trap location.
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