U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine asked for more federal resources Monday to combat the spread of the Zika virus in South Florida.
South Beach has been identified as a second site of Zika transmission by mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland, and containing it there will be difficult because high-rise buildings and strong winds make it impractical to spray the neighborhood from the air, officials said Friday.
Florida health officials say they're investigating a new Zika case outside a Miami neighborhood where mosquitoes have spread the virus to over two dozen people.
Nearly 2,000 Americans have contracted Zika, including 80 in New Jersey. A half-billion dollars set aside for the Ebola virus has been redirected to combat Zika, which Pallone disapproves of.
On any given day, a visitor to Miami's Wynwood neighborhood might see a hipster pecking at a vintage typewriter outside a coffee shop or a young professional enjoying roasted duck carnitas at a fusion restaurant next door.
Two blocks away, a family from the Midwest, Latin America or Europe might be
Federal authorities gave final approval Friday to a plan to release genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida, but none of the insects will be immediately dispatched in the state's fight against the spread of Zika.
The state Department of Health would not comment on whether any of New Jersey's cases involved pregnant women. They are the most at-risk population given Zika's confirmed link to a serious birth defect of the brain known as microcephaly.