Fighting the Zika virus in the Florida Keys

Insight

The globe is fighting against with Zika- in Brazil, the epicenter of the virus, is reporting nearly 5,000 suspected and confirmed cases of microcephaly.

The neurological disorder causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads. In the United States, there are now nearly 500 Zika cases.

Most of them have been acquired through travel to affected regions.

With summer approaching come concerns of even more cases of the virus in the U.S.The state of Florida currently leads the nation. In the number of Zika cases, reported more than 100.

Officials there are leaving nothing to chance and hoping to add a new weapon to their arsenal. CCTV America’s Jim Spellman reports.

The Florida Keys are a 180 kilometer (around 111 miles) long line of subtropical islands between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Residents and health officials are at war with Zika and the Zika virus is primarily spread by mosquitoes.

Paradise for many, but prime breeding ground for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the one type of mosquito that spreads the Zika virus.

Standing water is removed or treated to kill the mosquitoes. This neighborhood is clear for now, but soon more rain will come.

Fighting mosquitoes has long been a priority in the Florida Keys.


Kathryn Jacobsen on fighting Zika virus in North America

For more on fighting Zika virus in North America, CCTV America’s Mike Walter spoke to Kathryn Jacobsen from George Mason University. She’s an associate professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Global & Community Health.