The Centers for Disease Control will indefinitely retain its travel advisory warning pregnant women to avoid the Zika zone in Miami Beach.
The CDC’s decision to retain the Zika-based advisory may extend it into the time slot of Art Basel, the annual art show that attracts visitors from around the world to Miami Beach, scheduled December 1-4 this year.
The travel advisory will be 45 days old on Monday. The CDC has lifted such advisories after 45 days if transmission of the mosquito-borne Zika virus appears to have abated.
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine learned Friday in an email from CDC Director Tom Frieden that the travel advisory for the city would remain in effect after two new Zika cases emerged in Miami Beach on October 8 and October 17.
The Florida Department of Health reported the new Zika cases on Friday. It was unclear if the new cases were the direct cause of the CDC’s decision to retain the travel advisory for Miami Beach.
Levine told the Miami Herald he would have preferred earlier notice from the state health department so he could inform hotels and other businesses in South Beach sooner. [Miami Herald] — Mike Seemuth