New Zika cases popping up in northeast Florida. Action News Jax first told you Thursday that Duval County had its first case, St. Johns County previously had two and so did Clay County.
Neighbor William Carlstrom said he’s not too worried at this point, especially since the cases are all travel-related.
The Anastasia Mosquito Control District said they are constantly monitoring mosquitos, and have traps throughout the county to catch them.
“Each trap is specialized for each mosquito we try to catch,” said Jesse Crosier with Anastasia Mosquito Control.
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Once they catch the mosquitos, they bring them back to their lab to do research and test them for viruses.
If a virus is found, they send the mosquito out for further testing and also keep in touch with surrounding counties about their findings.
Since there have been two cases in St Johns County, Crosier said they actually go out to the homes of those infected by Zika and put mosquito traps around their home.
“One of the reasons we keep track of those people is because one of the species that could potentially carry Zika could bite them and become infected and then move on to someone else,” said Crosier.
There are a total of 156 cases reported in Florida not including pregnant women; 39 cases of Zika were confirmed in pregnant women.
The Florida Department of Health on Friday issued an alert in St. Johns County after a sentinel chicken tested positive for eastern equine encephalitis.
No human cases of EEE are confirmed at this time, but the potential for the risk of transmission has increased.
Cox Media Group
