New Orleans officials are keeping a close eye on the Zika battle under way in Miami. Officials are ramping up the local response.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu says he’s adding $500,000 to the city’s $3.5 million insect and rodent control budget.
Up until now, officials had seen only cases linked to travel in affected areas. Zika is linked to birth defects.
“Our mentality should not be a matter of if we face a locally transmitted case, but rather when," Landrieu said.
Local and state officials are urging the public to be vigilant in clearing up any standing water around their property – at least once a week. Mosquitos that carry the Zika virus thrive in even small puddles of water – including in plant containers and tires.
The city says sanitation workers will pick up as many as four tires left for curbside removal – preferably on the second of the two regular weekly pickups. And if residents need help clearing their property, they can call 3-1-1 for assistance.
Dr. Claudia Riegel of the New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board says precise plans are in place to respond to locally transmitted cases.
“That would include door-to-door education, turning over containers, and of course, we have to do the insecticide part as well. So either a truck or an airplane – that would be sent out that same day," she said.
Landrieu says officials with local tourism and convention groups are monitoring what their counterparts are doing in Miami to protect those industries.
