HEALTH

Gov. Rick Scott talks about Zika with leaders in Collier County

Liz Freeman
liz.freeman@naplesnews.com; 239-263-4778

Gov. Rick Scott brought his Zika prevention campaign to his hometown of Naples, with the message that standing water is the top enemy.

Holding a meeting Monday with local public health, mosquito control and government officials, Scott briefed them about nontravel-related Zika in the Wynwood and Miami Beach areas of Miami-Dade County.

A new locally transmitted and nontravel case was confirmed late Monday in Miami Beach, which brings the state total to 43. Investigations are under way in Pinellas and Palm Beach counties.

Intensive spraying and surveillance has reduced each risk zone down to a half-square-mile area in Wynwood and Miami Beach.

Lee County Department of Health Administrator Angela M. Swartzman, left, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott talk with officials at the Collier County Health Department in Naples on Monday during a discussion about the Zika virus. Gov. Scott hosted roundtable discussions with community leaders along with business and tourism officials in Collier and Palm Beach Counties.

“We do a very aggressive outreach and very aggressive mosquito control,” he said.

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There are no locally based cases in Southwest Florida, Scott said.

He lauded the coordination between local health departments and mosquito control districts in Lee and Collier counties for spraying against mosquitoes and educating the public. Health departments offer Zika testing to pregnant women at no charge.

There are no plans to expand the scope of free testing to anyone beyond pregnant women and others with symptoms or risk factors, Scott said during a media briefing.

When asked about Zika test results taking two weeks, the governor said he is asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more support in the state labs.

The mosquito that transmits Zika breeds in fresh water in artificial containers, so eliminating standing water is the best preventive measure, along with using repellent, he said.

Non-travel Zika virus case reported in Pinellas County

Scott reiterated what he has been saying for weeks about the state allocating $26 million to combat Zika, and he said his calls for help from the federal government having gone largely unheeded.

“We will allocate more dollars if we need to,” he said.

He told the group of his plan to travel to Washington, D.C., next week to fight for federal money when Congress reconvenes.

The CDC has provided manpower support in Miami-Dade for surveillance and recently provided more Zika tests.

“We want to be able to test everybody we need to,” he said.

So far the state has tested 4,172 people for the virus and has the capacity to test another 7,200.

Local officials who attended include Naples Mayor Bill Barnett, state Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, Collier County Commissioner Penny Taylor and representatives from the Lee County Port Authority and mosquito control districts.

Collier and Lee counties have only seen travel-related cases of Zika, with six in Collier and eight in Lee, since tracking began in late January. Collier’s sixth case of travel-based Zika was confirmed Friday.

New travel-related Zika case in Collier brings total to 6

Angela Swartzman, administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Lee, said her staff is working closely with the medical community and hospitals when there is a suspected case.

Public health department staff interview the individuals about their recent travel and work to educate pregnant women. What’s also important is keeping the medical community up to date about what researchers are learning about Zika and risks to pregnant women.

The risk is birth defects and potential of newborns with microcephaly, characterized by under-developed heads and neurological conditions.

“This is a rapidly changing issue,” Swartzman said. “This is morphing very quickly, and we are learning more every day.”

Patrick Linn, executive director of Collier County Mosquito Control District, said the coordination with the health department about suspected cases has been enormous, helping his staff determine where to use special traps for mosquitoes and for surveillance.

“We are on the phone with the health department daily,” he said.

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When there’s a suspect case of Zika, the district does a 10-day intensive surveillance of the area near where the individual lives.

The statewide volume of travel-related Zika is now 545 cases since tracking began, and another 75 infections involve pregnant women.

Travel-related Zika is where an individual was out of the country and became infected and is diagnosed with the mosquito-borne virus after returning to the United States.

The CDC recommends women who are pregnant to avoid nonessential travel to the area in Miami-Dade affected by Zika. The CDC also advises pregnant women with a history of travel to an area affected by Zika or who live in the region be tested for Zika in the first and second trimester.

For more information go to www.FloridaHealth.gov.