USA: Zika Worries Tourists In Florida & Tampa

Florida has welcomed a record number of tourists every year since 2011 and hopes to attract 115 million travelers this year, another first.

The string of records was broken despite challenges after the BP oil spill and tropical storms.

Now threatening to end the record run: Zika.

"Yes, I'm losing sleep," said Santiago Corrada, the head of Hillsborough County's tourism agency, Visit Tampa Bay.

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant to avoid a patch of Miami after a dozen people were infected with Zika there by mosquito bites. It is believed to be the first time the federal agency has issued such a warning within the continental United States.

Tourism officials say it's too soon to say whether news of the virus will deter people from visiting the state. Tampa Bay tourism leaders say they so far haven't received reports of cancellations.

"We don't know what will happen next," said Jonathan Grella, executive vice president for public affairs for the U.S. Travel Association. "It still feels like we are in the early stages."

But some people who run local tourist attractions are concerned.

"This could be really, really bad," said Carole Baskin, founder of Tampa's Big Cat Rescue. She worries tourism could plummet nearly as much as it did after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"No one was traveling," Baskin said. "We went into dire times. We were scared to death for about a year and a half."

Though there haven't been any reports of people contracting Zika from mosquito bites in the Tampa Bay area, local tourism officials are concerned that news stories circulating around the nation and world may not make that clear.

"Florida gets painted with a broad brush stroke," said David Downing, executive director of Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, Pinellas County's tourism marketing bureau.

Even if news reports do make it clear, people, especially overseas, may not know the difference between Miami and Tampa Bay.

Said Corrada: "When we were trying to bring the Bollywood Awards here and we were in India, I had people coming up and asking where in Miami is Tampa. We have to go through a geography lesson."

However, travel warnings issued by Canada and the United Kingdom this week are at least reaching a population that knows Florida well; both are top international feeders to the state.

"Institutional knowledge of Florida is an asset for us," Downing said.

Meanwhile, representatives for outdoor tourism attractions are keeping an eye on the news, stocking up on bug spray and hoping visitors keep coming.

Lauren Kleinfeld, manager of Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, said the effect on visitors has been minimal. She hopes it stays that way.

"We have not seen any big impact at all so far," she said. "We do offer the bug wipes and we recommend they use them."

Baskin at Big Cat Rescue also said she keeps a "big table full of bug spray" for visitors and regularly treats the area with pesticides to ensure her visitors, employees and animals are protected.

Grella, from the U.S. Travel Association, said Florida's strong tourism focus could help it pull through as the Zika situation evolves.

"Nobody would ever wish these circumstances on themselves but (Florida) is more equipped to handle the tougher times than others," he said.

BRAZIL: Rapid Spread Of Mosquitoes Poses Threat beyond Zika

As the world focuses on Zika’s rapid advance in the Americas, experts warn the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening swathes of humanity. The battle against the insects on the streets of Brazil is the latest in an ancient war between humankind and the Culicidae, or mosquito, family which the pests frequently win.

Today, mosquito invaders are turning up with increasing regularity from Washington DC to Strasbourg, challenging the notion that the diseases they carry will remain confined to the tropics, scientists documenting the cases told Reuters. Ironically, humans have rolled out the red carpet for the invaders by transporting them around the world and providing a trash-strewn urban landscape that suits them to perfection.

The Aedes aegypti species blamed for transmitting Zika breeds in car tyres, tin cans, dog bowls and cemetery flower vases. And its females are great at spreading disease as they take multiple bites to satisfy their hunger for the protein in human blood they need to develop their eggs.

Around the world, disease-carrying mosquitoes are advancing at speed, taking viruses such as dengue and Zika, plus a host of lesser-known ills such as chikungunya and St Louis encephalitis, into new territories from Europe to the Pacific.

Africa asked to spend more on research to halt brain drain “The concern is that we have these species spreading everywhere. Today the focus is on Zika but they can carry many different viruses and pathogens,” said Anna-Bella Failloux, head of the department that tracks mosquito viruses at France’s Institut Pasteur.