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For those unfamiliar with the geography, Pinellas county is located on the west coast of Florida, makes up the western shore of Tampa Bay, and is the home of St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and Largo.
It is roughly 200 miles to the North and West of Miami-Dade county, where local Zika transmission has been reported for the past month.
Additionally, four more non-travel related cases are reported from the Wynwood area in Miami. This from the Governor's office:
GOV. SCOTT: DOH IDENTIFIES LOCAL TRANSMISSION OF ZIKA IN PINELLAS COUNTY; SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES WYNWOOD AREA
On August 23, 2016, in News Releases, by Staff
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Florida Department of Health (DOH) is investigating five new non-travel related cases of Zika. One of these cases is in Pinellas County and four cases are in the impacted area in Wynwood. DOH has begun door-to-door outreach and sampling in Pinellas County and mosquito abatement and reduction activities are also taking place. DOH still believes ongoing active transmission is only taking place within the small identified areas in Wynwood and Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County. More details will be announced when the Pinellas County investigation concludes.
Governor Scott also announced that following further testing and no evidence of continued active transmission, DOH is able to clear nearly the entire perimeter of the area in Wynwood. The total area that DOH has cleared in Wynwood is now 76 blocks (see maps below). This makes the impacted area in Wynwood now approximately 0.5 square mile. The total number of local transmissions of Zika in Florida is 42.
Governor Rick Scott said, “Today, we learned that the Florida Department of Health is investigating one new individual with non-travel related Zika in Pinellas County. While this investigation is ongoing, DOH still believes that ongoing active transmissions are only occurring in the two previously identified areas in Wynwood and Miami Beach. As we’ve seen in Wynwood, our aggressive mosquito control and public education efforts are working which is why DOH was able to clear a significant area in Wynwood today, bringing the total cleared area to 76 blocks. This means that we have now cleared half of the area in Wynwood where we believe ongoing active transmission of Zika is occurring. This is great news and we hope to continue reducing this area.
“In Pinellas County, the Department of Health and Pinellas County Mosquito Control are already working together and have begun aggressive spraying and mosquito abatement efforts. Any pregnant woman who would like to receive a free Zika test or a Zika prevention kit should contact the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County. We remain fully committed to ensuring that every county has all of the resources they need to combat this virus and stand ready to assist residents and visitors in the impacted communities.”
Any Pinellas County resident who would like to request mosquito control services for their residence or business should contact Pinellas County Mosquito Control HERE.
Click HERE to see a detailed timeline of actions taken by Governor Scott to combat the Zika virus in Florida.
