The commissioner of the State Department of Public Health is urging Connecticut women who are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant, and their partners to avoid traveling to a Zika-stricken part of Miami, Florida.
Commissioner Dr. Raul Pino put out the warning on Tuesday, the day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning because of Zika virus.
“Based on confirmation by the State of Florida and the CDC of several cases of locally transmitted Zika virus, the CDC is advising pregnant women, women who plan to become pregnant and their sexual partners to avoid one area of Miami just north of the city’s downtown,” Pino said in a statement. “I encourage Connecticut women who are or plan to become pregnant and their partners to avoid this neighborhood, should they be travelling to Miami. While Zika virus causes only mild symptoms in most people, it can have devastating, life-long consequences for unborn children.”
The mosquito suspected of transmitting Zika in the Miami neighborhood is not found in Connecticut. However, another mosquito capable of transmitting Zika, the Asian Tiger Mosquito, has been trapped in several Connecticut towns this summer.
No mosquitoes have tested positive for Zika in Connecticut, but residents are urged to remove standing water outside homes and eliminating trash, debris and other materials that can collect water and provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
The state laboratory had tested 491 Connecticut patients for Zika virus, including 379 pregnant women.
To date, 45 patients, including three pregnant women, have tested positive for Zika virus and all the patients contracted the virus while travelling to Zika affected areas in the Caribbean and Central and South America.
