CDC updates guidance for Miami Beach (FL) area with active Zika transmission

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated guidance for people who travel to or live in the previously identified 4.5-square-mile area in Miami Beach, FL. The North Miami Beach-designated area is no longer considered to be an area of active Zika virus transmission (red area). It is now designated as a Zika cautionary area (yellow area). There have been no new cases of local Zika virus transmission identified in the North Miami Beach area for more than 45 days, suggesting that the risk of Zika virus infection in North Miami Beach is no longer greater than in the rest of Miami-Dade County. The red area in South Miami Beach will continue until 45 days pass without new cases. The remainder of Miami-Dade County continues to have the yellow area designation.

Guidance for red areas continues to apply to South Miami Beach. Guidance for yellow areas now applies to North Miami Beach and continues for the rest of Miami-Dade County. In addition:

• Women and men living in or who traveled to the identified North Miami Beach area should be aware this location was considered a red area from July 14 to November 14, 2016.
• Partners of pregnant women who lived in or traveled to the affected areas should consistently and correctly use condoms to prevent passing Zika during sex, or they should not have sex with their partner during the pregnancy.
• Pregnant women who lived in, traveled to, or had sex without a condom with a person who lived in or traveled to the designated area of North Miami Beach after July 14, 2016, should be tested for Zika virus.
• Women who traveled to the designated area of North Miami Beach after July 14, 2016, should wait at least 8 weeks before trying to get pregnant, regardless of whether they had symptoms.
• Men who traveled to the designated area of North Miami Beach after July 14, 2016, should wait at least 6 months before trying to get their partner pregnant, regardless of whether they had symptoms.

All of Miami-Dade remains a yellow area and pregnant women are eligible for Zika virus testing. All pregnant women in the United States should be evaluated for possible Zika virus exposure during each prenatal care visit. To determine whether Zika virus testing is needed, each evaluation should include an assessment of signs and symptoms of Zika virus disease (fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes), their travel history, and their sexual partner’s potential exposure to Zika virus and history of any illness consistent with Zika virus disease.

“We understand this has been a difficult time for Miami Beach residents and tourists and thank local and state officials for their hard work to interrupt the spread of the virus in the area,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “At this time, we are removing the red zone from North Miami Beach area but continuing the red zone for South Miami Beach. This means that we still advise pregnant women not to travel to the red zone in South Miami Beach. Furthermore, people living in or visiting Miami-Dade County, including Miami Beach, particularly pregnant women, are still encouraged to continue to take steps to prevent mosquito bites and to follow guidelines for preventing sexual transmission. We cannot let down our guard.”

As of November 16, a total of 4,255 cases of Zika have been reported in the continental United States and Hawaii through CDC’s ArboNET. These cases include 139 locally transmitted mosquito-borne cases in Florida, 35 cases believed to be the result of sexual transmission, and one case that was the result of a laboratory exposure.

For more information about Zika, visit https://www.cdc.gov/zika/.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES