Zika Virus has been an issue of concern for people living or traveling to Miami-Dade County, Florida. Zika Virus is a vector-borne disease that is transmitted by mosquito's bites. In Miami, the transmission has been identified, but the evidence lacks the intensity of the transmission in some areas in Miami. According to Center for Disease Control, Pregnant women are vulnerable and pose to be at high risk of getting Zika Virus compared to other people. The epidemiological distribution of Zika Virus shows that women who traveled in the area of Little River after August 2016 should wait for eight months before getting pregnant as they are at risk of Zika Virus (Prevention, 2016). Zika Virus is also transmitted through sex; therefore, men traveling or living in Miami should wait for six months before sexual intercourse with their partners. The north part of Miami has no new cases of Zika Virus compared to South Miami where there are new cases of Zika Virus have been identified. On the August 19, CDC reported that 1.5 square miles to the south of Miami had been infected with the mosquito-borne spread of the Zika Virus (Prevention, 2016).
However, the Zika Virus can be prevented by various levels of prevention. First, the primary prevention includes vaccination and immunization of people living in Zika Virus prone areas against the virus. Also, the public should also be advised to protect themselves from Zika Virus through health promotion. For example, pregnant women who are at risk of getting Zika Virus should sleep under treated mosquito net (Prevention, 2017). Also, since Zika Virus can be spread during sex with an infected person, partners should use a condom to protect against the disease. Secondly, secondary prevention aims to minimize progress of infection to people already infected. Therefore, those infected with Zika Virus should be put under diagnosis and effective treatment. Finally, the tertiary prevention for people infected with Zika Virus includes physiotherapy, occupational therapy as well as the speech therapy to minimize chances of death or disability caused by Zika Virus (Prevention, 2017). Therefore, the three levels of prevention could be used to prevent populations from contacting Zika Virus.
References
Prevention, C. f. (2016, December 9). Zika Virus. Retrieved from cdc.gov: https://www.cdc.gov/zika/intheus/florida-update.html
Prevention, C. f. (2017, January 7). Zika Virus. Retrieved from cdc.gov: https://www.cdc.gov/zika/prevention/index.html
