The Zika Virus is quickly spreading North and headed towards Atlanta, Georgia.
Florida Governor Rick Soctt said Tuesday that a locally transmitted case of the Zika virus has been confirmed in Pinellas County, which includes St. Petersburg and Clearwater.
In addition, Florida has reported four more cases of the Zika Virus, just outside of South Beach. That being said, Pinellas County is over 200 miles away from Miami, where Zika poses such a big threat that the Center for Disease Countrol and Prevention (CDC) to have issued a travel warning to pregnant women. A total of 42 people have been infected with Zika in Florida since the outbreak started.
“Today, we learned that the Florida Department of Health is investigating one new individual with non-travel related Zika in Pinellas County,” Scott said. “While this investigation is ongoing, [the Department of Health] still believes that ongoing active transmissions are only occurring in the two previously identified areas in Wynwood and Miami Beach.”
The non-travel distinction is incredibly important because, as NBC notes, “if a person was infected and has had no contact with a traveler from an affected area, it strongly suggests mosquitoes locally are infected and can spread the virus.”
While, the distance from Clearwater to Atlanta is nearly 500 miles. It does seem to show that the Zika virus is quickly spreading across the United States as the virus traveled 250 miles in less than 30 days.
To add insult to injury, on Tuesday, a CNN report told the story of Micaela, one of the first babies in the United States to be born with Zika-related complications. While her mother, Maria, was repeatedly told by her physician that her Zika infection would not affect the baby’s health, Micaela was born with calcifications in her brain.
Here are the warning signs you should be aware of:
(Via Tampa Bay Times, NBC News, & CNN)
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