Miami launches insecticide spraying plane to combat Zika

The first plane on an aerial mission to combat the mosquito-borne Zika virus in Miami, Florida, launched early on Thursday morning (August 4).

It sprayed insecticide over a 10 mile (16 km) radius in the neighborhood of Wynwood, where at least 15 people have been infected locally, according to local media.

On the ground, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson met with area residents to warn them about protecting themselves.

“It’s still open for business and it’s going on as usual, so I just want to make sure everyone is prepared,” she said, carrying a box of insect repellent to hand out.

Zika, which has quickly spread throughout Latin America since first being detected in Brazil last year, can cause a rare but devastating birth defect.

Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood was identified on Friday as the first site of local Zika transmission in the continental United States.