Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Colombia Reports That Babies Born With Microcephaly Quadrupled During Year's Zika Outbreak
The number of babies born with microcephaly in Colombia during a Zika outbreak this year more than quadrupled from a year ago, dispelling earlier suggestions that the nation with the second-largest number of infections had somehow escaped the dreaded wave of fetal deformities witnessed in Brazil, the epicenter of the outbreak. In a report released Friday that provides the most detailed information about microcephaly prevalence to date in Colombia, health officials in that country and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 476 cases of microcephaly were identified between February and mid-November, compared with 110 cases reported during the same period in 2015. (Sun, 12/9)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) on Friday announced his state is officially cleared of any active zones of Zika virus transmission, ending a four-month public health threat. 鈥淔lorida does not have any identified areas with active Zika transmission, which is incredible news for the Miami Beach community and our entire state,鈥 Scott wrote in a press release. Miami Beach, a popular tourist destination, was the last remaining region of Florida considered an active zone of transmission for Zika. That final 1.5-mile stretch of the city is now cleared, which Scott said he hopes will reopen the flow of visitors. (Ferris, 12/9)
The Texas Department of State Health Services and the Cameron County Health Department announced Friday they've identified four more locally-transmitted cases of Zika in Cameron County. In late November, the first such case in Texas, contracted by mosquito bite, was reported out of Cameron County. (Silver, 12/9)
Health officials in Brownsville are knocking on every door in a neighborhood where a woman contracted the Zika virus from a mosquito bite. She hadn鈥檛 traveled to anywhere in the Caribbean or South America where the virus has exploded, nor had she been in contact with anyone who had. Since it wasn鈥檛 a travel-related case of infection, Texas became the second state to report a locally transmitted Zika case due to a mosquito bite. (Ratner, 12/11)
