Mayor Levine: No Confirmed Zika Transmission In Miami Beach
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MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) -- Several news organizations are reporting there is active Zika transmission happening in Miami Beach. But the governor's office was quick to denounce those reports as was Miami Beach's mayor.
"I repeat nothing has been confirmed from the Florida Department of Health by the CDC or by the county," said Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine.
Levine began damage control, holding a press conference late Thursday night.
"When you see some of the national media saying that there's some kind of crazy epidemic ,and we know that one of our most important industries on Miami Beach is tourism, I mean it's not the right message it's not correct," he said.
City Manager Jimmy Morales said "as of now the Department of Health has not confirmed any Zika cases in Miami Beach."
But the New York Times is quoting a health official source that says there are "a handful of cases" of likely local transmission that involves people who were in "close proximity to each other."
The Washington Post is also saying an official familiar with the situation said there are several cases in Miami Beach.
The development of Zika reaching the beach was first reported by CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald. Sources told the Herald that a new area of ongoing Zika transmission has been identified within the city and that there are several locally acquired cases from there.
CBS4 has spoken twice today with the governor's office. They deny there is a new Zika zone on the beach or anywhere else where transmissions are occurring and deny they plan to designate a new zone any time soon.
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But a statement from Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz emailed to the press Thursday caused some confusion. It mentions before the statement that it's in response to health officials reporting "new locally-transmitted Zika wirus cases in Miami Beach."
CBS4 checked with her office to find out how they were confirming information no other government office had.
They told CBS4 they hadn't confirmed it, their press release was based on the media reports.
The Florida Department of Health issued their daily update and said there are now two new non-travel related cases that were contracted outside of the Zika zone in Wynwood but they did not clarify where.
CBS4's Tiani Jones asked them to clarify, and they responded by sending back part of their press release.
With contradicting and vague statements, there's confusion which can sometimes breed fear.
"There is no epidemic, there's no outbreak and Zika on Miami Beach," Levine said. "There are two unconfirmed cases the county and health department says that they haven't been confirmed from Miami Beach."
The health department says they continue to investigate possible transmission areas in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Despite that, they believe active transmissions are still only occurring in the area that is less than one square mile in Miami-Dade County.
South Florida's hospitality industry has been dreading the spread to Miami Beach since the region relies heavily on its tourism industry.
Jones spoke with the Miami Beach Public Works Department about their efforts to combat mosquitoes.
"The city of Miami Beach for a long time has been doing all sorts of things. We have been keeping our streets clean, we've been working with our storm water systems, we are looking for any standing water to remove it," said Ray Coley. "We are working with property owners to help them to understand the need to remove (standing) water."
On Thursday morning, Miami Beach public works officials and code compliance officers were in the city's neighborhoods inspecting for mosquito breeding sites.
Miami Beach has been very active on social media. They put out a video stressing the importance of mosquito control. They have a hotline at (305) 673-7625 for people to call if they see standing water for longer than 48 hours.
As of Thursday, the department announced the total of locally acquired cases in the state was 35. Florida currently has 479 travel-related cases. Of all the cases, 63 are pregnant women.
Click here for more information on the Zika virus or here for more Zika-related stories.
