Please welcome Natalie French to the Guest Blogger chair. Natalie is currently working on her master’s capstone project at APUS. She serves as a Media Representative and Emergency Management Specialist in Dade County Florida. Over the past week, her office has been deeply involved in planning for the arrival of the Zika virus into the Miami area. Here are her perspectives:
In South Florida we are used to the threat of hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes and yes the slow but ever-present reality of sea level rise. However, these natural disasters are being compounded by others that may arrive sooner to our door steps. The first day of February welcomed us with the news that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international public health emergency generated by the Zika virus.
Two days later, on Feb. 3, and after 12 cases of Zika were confirmed in the state, Governor Rick Scott follow suit by declaring a public health emergency in four Florida counties including Miami-Dade, Lee, Hillsborough (where Tampa is located) and Santa Rosa. By Feb. 4 Broward County was added to the list. Miami-Dade and Broward are two of the most populated counties in all of Florida. And although some may conclude the Governor jumped the gun, the state needed to open up the flow of resources necessary to start a plan of action that will stop Zika in its tracks, including requesting 1,000 Zika antibody tests. Florida currently has the capacity to test only 475 people.
Should people in South Florida panic? The answer is no. The mosquito control procedures by Miami-Dade County are probably one of the best in the country. The concern is more related to the location of South Florida, also known as the Gateway to the Americas. With the spread of the virus in over 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had no other choice but to issue a travel alert out of abundance of caution. To complicate matters, several countries where the virus is present have also seen an increase of babies being born with microcephaly, a condition where a baby’s head is much smaller than expected.
Few have heard of the Zika virus until now. No one can blame them. All EM personnel can be a conduit to inform the public of what Zika really is. All of the cases thus far in the U.S. are from people that contracted the virus overseas. The disease is not only new to the U.S. but to the Americas in general hence the small level of immunization on this side of the Atlantic. The Zika virus, however, has been around at least since 1947, when a group of scientists working on yellow fever cases in Uganda first identified the virus. A fever developed in a rhesus monkey and blood samples revealed an unknown virus that, as protocol dictated, was named Zika after the forest where it was first identified.
With the public health emergency declaration, South Florida is still open for business as usual. Mosquitoes are part of this region’s ecology and people will continue to follow the Drain & Cover steps we are used to before the humidity and the heat begin again, buying mosquito repellent, citronella candles, replacing broken doors and window screens and all other tools we can get to fight them. Each person, as Miami-Dade County officials continue to remind the population, is the first line of defense against mosquito bites, and potentially serious mosquito-borne illnesses that include dengue, chikungunya and zika.
The only difference is if people want to travel to Latin America and Caribbean countries listed on [link url= “http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/index.html” title= “the CDC website,“] it’s better to pack mosquito repellent that contains DEET or picaridin, wear long sleeves and try not to spend too much time outdoors. Better yet, postpone any honeymoons to the region. American Airlines and United have taken the extra step to provide reimbursements. This is a welcomed development for all those who planned an escape from the cold or a honeymoon on Valentine’s Day.
Sources: CDC, CNN, Miami-Dade County, Miami Herald
Natalie French is the current Media and Emergency Management Specialist at the Doral Police Department in Doral, FL located in Miami-Dade County. She has worked as public affairs manager and news production for the City of Doral and the City of Miami. Previous to her career in government, Ms. French worked for several private and public news outlets including, NBC, Frontline (WGBH) and the Spanish network, Univision. She is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Emergency and Disaster Management at American Military University.
Thank you, Natalie, for your work on this potentially significant health crisis.
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