2016 saw the spread of the Zika virus, a virus dangerous mostly to pregnant mothers and their unborn children.
It was spread by mosquitoes, an insect that causes the transmission of many viruses in Florida.
During a speech recently, Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Gimenez said his community was, “the first community in the world to break the cycle of local transmission of the Zika virus.”
PolitiFact Florida heard the claim and gave it a MOSTLY TRUE rating.
Writer Josh Gillin says the key point here: Mayor Gimenez is talking about local transmissions, or cases of the virus transferred inside Miami-Dade.
“The last one was on December 9th, and so this idea that there isn't any more Zika being spread locally there? That's accurate,” Gillin said.
Gillin went on to caution everybody Zika is not gone. Health experts and virologists studying the virus say we’re going to have to wait and see if Zika cases spike once temperatures increase along with mosquito activity.
Based on that information, Mayor Gimenez’s statement was given a MOSTLY TRUE rating.
SOURCES: Miami-Dade mayor says his community beat Zika first
- Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Written State of the County speech and video, Jan. 18, 2017
- World Health Organization, Zika virus, Accessed Jan. 18, 2017
- World Health Organization, Zika epidemiology report about Puerto Rico, Dec. 20, 2016
- Centers for Disease Control, Local Mosquito-Borne Transmission of Zika Virus — Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, Florida, June–August 2016, Sept. 30, 2016
- Centers for Disease Control, "Transcript for CDC Telebriefing: Zika Telebriefing Update," Sept. 23, 2016
- Centers for Disease Control, Areas with Zika, Accessed Jan. 19, 2017
- Centers for Disease Control, Advice for people living in or traveling to Brownsville, Texas, Accessed Jan. 19, 2017
- Florida Department of Health, Zika virus, Accessed Jan. 19, 2017
- Singapore National Environment Agency, Zika cases and clusters, Accessed Jan. 19, 2017
- Straits Times, "No more Zika clusters in Singapore: NEA," Dec. 16, 2016
- Miami Herald, "CDC: aerial spraying delivered 'one-two punch' to Zika in Wynwood," Sept. 23, 2016
- Miami Herald, "Gov. Rick Scott lifts last Zika zone in Miami Beach, but isolated cases still expected," Dec. 9
- New York Times, "South Beach Travel Warning Eased as Governor Reports No New Cases of Zika," Dec. 10, 2016
- New York Times, "How the Response to Zika Failed Millions," Jan. 16, 2017
- Interview, Michael Hernandez, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Hernandez, Jan. 19, 2017
- Interview, Robert Tesh, University of Texas Professor, Departments of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Jan. 18, 2017
- Interview, Nikos Vaskilakis, University of Texas associate professor of pathology, Jan. 18, 2017
- Interview, Rita W. Driggers, Associate Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Medical Director, Maternal Fetal Medicine Sibley Memorial Hospital Johns Hopkins Medicine, Jan. 18, 2017
- Interview, Laura Norris, USAID Entomologist/Malaria Vector Control Technical Advisor, Jan. 18, 2017
- Interview, Philip K. Stoddard, biology professor Florida International University, Jan. 18, 2017
- Interview, Duane J Gubler, Program in Emerging Infectious Disease Duke-NUS Medical School emeritus professor, Jan. 19, 2017
- Interview, Ira Longini, University of Florida biostatistics professor, Jan. 23, 2017
- Interview, Mara Gambineri, Florida Department of Health spokeswoman, Jan. 18, 2017
- Interview, Monika Gehner, World Health Organization spokeswoman, Jan. 19, 2017
- Interview, Daniel Epstein, Pan American Health Organization spokesman, Jan. 23, 2017
- Interview, Chris Van Deusen, Texas Department. of State Health Services spokesman, Jan. 17, 2017
- Interview, Benjamin Haynes, Centers for Disease Control spokesman, Jan. 19, 2017