Officials Hold Zika Meeting To Answer Questions, Ask For Help
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department employees went from manhole to manhole in the Wynwood area trying to stamp out Zika.
It is a full court press as workers fanned out across the area – knocking on doors, spreading the word to dump standing water and take precautions.
Public help is critical in this crisis.
"This is a war and it is a war against a mosquito," said Alina Hudak.
Zika 101: Prevent Spread By Protecting Yourself
The county is looking for allies, and that's who showed up at a meeting at the Miami-Dade County Emergency Operations Center – representatives from every city in the county.
"The eyes of the nation are on our community," Hudak said.
The county has been fighting the mosquito on the ground, in the air, door to door and looking for help area wide. For example, they need help just dealing with drains in the county area.
"We know there probably close to 150,000 drains on public and private property," Hudak said. "That's a lot of drains that need to be treated and need to be cleaned."
The gravity of the challenge is beginning to manifest. It's not lost on Gov. Rick Scott as the state now faces and additional "no travel-related" Zika case.
He met with county officials in Jacksonville.
"If you get rid of standing water, if you wear protective clothing and bug repellent, you are a big step ahead at being able to stop this here," he told them.
Click here for more information on the Zika virus or here for more Zika-related stories.
