MIAMI (AP) - The Latest on the locations of Zika-infected mosquitoes in Miami Beach (all times local):
12:20 p.m.
Miami-Dade County has released the locations of five sites in South Beach where mosquitoes were found to be infected with the Zika virus.
The statement Wednesday from Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s office says that mosquitoes caught in traps at those locations tested positive for Zika on separate dates between Aug. 22 and Sept. 9.
Officials had previously only disclosed one site, the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. Gimenez’s statement said state health officials had instructed the county to withhold the other locations.
In an email released by a health department spokeswoman, state surgeon general Dr. Celeste Philip wrote Gimenez on Tuesday afternoon that the disclosure of all the trap locations was encouraged, but decision was “solely the county’s to make.”
All the traps were located within an initially small outbreak zone that now extends through much of Miami Beach.
9 a.m.
Miami-Dade County officials say they’re planning to release the locations of mosquito traps that captured Zika-positive insects in Miami Beach.
Michael Hernandez, a spokesman for Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, told the Miami Herald (https://goo.gl/rBttmw ) they’ll be naming the locations Wednesday morning.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Surgeon General Celeste Philip encouraged county officials to release trap locations, and the county made the decision Tuesday evening.
Earlier that day, Gimenez sent a letter to the state Health Department saying he would release the locations unless state health officials prohibited the action in writing by Wednesday afternoon.
Both the state and county had previously refused to disclose the locations, arguing the records were exempt from public records law because they were part of an epidemiological investigation.
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Information from: The Miami Herald, https://www.herald.com
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