NEW YORK (Sputnik) – At least 537 individuals in New York State tested positive for the Zika virus infection, according to the Department of Health. All but five have been related to travel while five acquired the virus through sexual transmission.
"To help protect subway travelers, Governor Cuomo has directed the Health Department and the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) to deploy larvicide tablets to standing water throughout the subway system," the statement noted.
Moreover, the city will begin to provide free larvicide tablets to residents willing to eliminate mosquito breeding from standing water throughout their neighborhoods.
Fears of a Zika virus epidemic have risen after the World Health Organization declared a global emergency earlier this year amid the rapid advance of the virus in the Americas, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
On Friday, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced the first four cases of the Zika virus transmitted by mosquitoes in the continental United States were found in Miami, Florida.
Scott asked the US government on Monday to activate a federal emergency response team because ten new cases of the Zika virus have been identified.
On Wednesday, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed an executive order declaring a public health emergency in four counties in his state where at least nine people have fallen victim to the mosquito-borne virus.
To date, there is no known vaccine to treat the Zika virus.
