Some in Community at Heart of Florida Zika Scare Seem Unfazed
CDC issued a travel warning, but some residents say their lives haven't changed
— -- The same day that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning over the Zika outbreak in a Miami neighborhood, some local residents and visitors seemed unfazed by the news, or even completely ignorant of the virus.
ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser walked the streets of the northern Miami district where at least 14 people have been infected in the first locally transmitted Zika outbreak in the continental U.S. Monday, and found some people simply enjoying their summers or going to the beach, unaware of the viral outbreak.
Drew Dodds and Dwan Long told ABC News that they were visiting the area from a suburb of New Orleans. Long said she was not at all worried about Zika, even though she worked in health care, and did not even know about the travel warning for pregnant women.
"Actually we were on vacation and I [saw] it, like the day before we were supposed to fly out, so it made me a little worried about coming down here, but it didn't stop us," Dodds told ABC News. He added that they knew a lot about West Nile Virus, another mosquito-transmitted disease, but they knew very little about Zika.
Long told ABC News that they had some bug spray, but they didn't put it on before their outing that day.
Lauren Bana, a local resident, told Dr. Besser she hadn't heard much about Zika.
"I mean, I really don't know anything about it, to be honest with you," Bana said.
Bana added that the virus outbreak has not changed her lifestyle "at all."
The United Kingdom previously issued travel warnings for pregnant citizens heading toward this part of Florida. Yesterday, the CDC issued its advisory warning pregnant woman and their partners against travel to certain parts of Florida.
Some have questioned why it took a week for the CDC to issue a travel advisory, since cases were first recorded last week, but officials said in a press conference yesterday that new transmission and new cases over the weekend were what sparked the advisory.
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