11 more Miami-Dade residents infected with West Nile virus, health department says
Miami-Dade County now has more than 40 West Nile virus cases this year after health officials announced 11 more residents have caught the mosquito-borne illness.
On Friday, the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County confirmed the additional cases from local transmission, bringing the county’s total cases to 44 in 2020. Health officials say the most recent residents to contract the disease were infected in June and July.
The county’s health department has been working with the Department of Solid Waste Management to introduce mosquito control prevention efforts in the exposure areas, health officials said.
Miami-Dade County’s mosquito-control chief, William Petrie, said in late June that this summer’s resurgence of West Nile probably reflects the heavy rains that cause mosquito populations to explode.
The county has been placed under a mosquito-borne-illness alert. Miami-Dade’s first two cases of West Nile virus were detected in May, both in county residents and through local transmission.
On Aug. 4, Broward County saw its first West Nile virus case since 2012. Monroe County is dealing with its own mosquito-borne illness outbreak as 47 people have been infected with Dengue fever.
It is Monroe County’s first outbreak in a decade. To combat the spread of the disease, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District approved an experimental program to release genetically modified mosquitoes to eliminate local disease-spreading mosquitoes.
The state Departnent if Health says West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the United States. There are no vaccines to prevent it or medications to treat it.
People 60 and older and those with weakened immune systems are at an increased risk for severe disease, health officials said.
Roughly 1 in 5 of those infected develop a fever or other symptoms, which typically appear between two and 14 days after the infected mosquito bites. Fewer than 1% of people who contract the virus develop a serious or fatal illness.
Health officials say to “Drain and Cover.” Drain standing water in garbage cans, gutters, buckets, pools, coolers, birdbaths and pet water bowls. Also throw away old tires, drums, bottles, cans and broken appliances.
Cover skin with clothing and apply repellent that uses DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol or IR3535 for protection from mosquitoes.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 3:31 PM.
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