MIAMI (AP) — Miami-Dade County is stepping up enforcement to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne viruses, including Zika.
County commissioners on Tuesday passed an ordinance allowing authorities to take “necessary corrective action” during a public health emergency to reduce mosquito breeding sites if property owners don’t do so within two days of receiving a warning.
The ordinance clarifies existing law requiring property owners to remove containers of standing water. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which carry the Zika virus, live in and around people’s homes and can breed in very small containers of water.
In a statement, Commissioner Levine Cava said the measure was needed to protect public health.
Miami-Dade County has reported the most Zika cases in the state. All the Florida cases stem from infections acquired out of the country.
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