MIAMI – Miami-Dade County commissioners held an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss the ongoing efforts to combat the Zika virus.
The meeting was held on the same day that Gov. Rick Scott said four more people have locally acquired the Zika virus, likely from mosquito bites in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood.
That brings the total number of non-travel-related cases of the Zika virus in Florida to 21.
"All four of these cases are located in the same, small area of Wynwood, that is less than 1 square mile," Scott said.
The mayor, mosquito control, senators, Miami-Dade's police director, other elected officials and health representatives gathered together to discuss the response to the Zika virus in Miami-Dade County, what has been done and what still needs to be done to try to contain the virus.
Aerial spraying was last done on Sunday, and Mayor Carlos Gimenez said it will be done again Wednesday and Sunday.
The mayor said since the spraying began over the same 10-square mile area in and around Wynwood, the population of mosquitoes that carry the virus in the area has been reduced by 97 percent.
Mosquito control has traps set up.
The mayor said 25 Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were being found in the traps daily at first, but that was reduced to nine, and now it's down to less than one per trap.
He said the spraying is just one of several ways the county is working to control the number of infected in South Florida.
The area of concentration is between Northwest Fifth Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard to Northwest 38th and Northwest 20th streets.
Scott said he has directed state health and education officials to work together in providing Zika virus prevention guidance and resources to students, parents and educators.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton called on Congress to return to Washington and pass emergency funding for the Zika response during a Tuesday visit to South Florida.
The Democratic presidential candidate toured the Borinquen Medical Center, a health clinic close to the Wynwood area.
She demanded Republican leaders bring Congress back in session to either pass stalled legislation or craft a new bipartisan compromise bill to provide funding for testing, treatment and research on the disease, according to aides briefed on her plans.
Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, has said he'd return to Washington for a vote on a Zika virus bill.
Clinton will also attend two fundraisers for her campaign while she is in South Florida, including a $2,700-a-head fundraiser at the home of Dr. Bruce Carter and a dinner in Miami Beach, hosted by sugar magnate Alfonso Fanjul and investor Paul Cejas.
