Chicago Official Downplays Threat Of Zika Transmission Here
(CBS) – We're learning more about the first cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitos in the U.S.
Florida health officials now say one woman and three men from Miami-Dade and Broward counties likely contracted the virus through mosquito bites.
Could the same thing happen in Chicago? CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports.
Florida's surgeon general tried to calm concerns Friday, a day after the state became the first in the nation to report locally transmitted cases of Zika.
All four cases were confined to a 1-mile area in North Miami. Still, the FDA told blood centers in the region to suspend blood collections until donations can be screened.
Dr. Allison Arwady, the Chicago Health Department's chief medical officer, says the Florida cases aren't surprising.
"For Zika to be transmitted you have to have the right type of mosquito. So, in this case, they've got the aedes aegypti mosquito. Someone would return from a country where the Zika outbreak is occurring. They very well may not have symptoms. The mosquito bites that person and then goes on and bites a second person."
Arwady says the chance of that happening in Chicago is "very, very, very low."
"The aedes aegypti mosquito, it doesn't survive in our cold winters," she says.
Still, health officials aren't taking any chances. And people can help protect themselves by wearing repellent, wearing long sleeves and pants and not allowing water to pool.
Currently there are 35 cases of Zika in Illinois. All of those people contracted the virus while traveling.
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