MIAMI _ Nearly all of the locations in Miami Beach where traps captured mosquitoes carrying Zika virus in August and September are residential areas, though some are located near where lots of people gather, according to information released Wednesday by Miami-Dade officials.
The county identified four addresses in South Beach as a result of a public dispute with the Florida Department of Health after the Miami Herald filed a lawsuit against Miami-Dade seeking the locations.
The addresses are 1619 Meridian Ave., 932 Lenox Ave., 1236 Drexel Ave. and 2378 Prairie Ave. Health officials identified the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, 2000 Convention Center Dr., as one of the sites on Sept. 1, though the garden had been closed three days prior. The location on Prairie Avenue is near Hebrew Academy's Rabbi Alexander Gross High School and Miami Beach Senior High, while the Meridian address is near the Lincoln Road mall.
Health department officials notified residents before releasing the addresses, but at least one resident contacted the Miami Herald after receiving a visit. Galen Treur, a 37-year-old University of Miami student, said he lives at 1236 Drexel Ave. and sent a photograph of health officials at his door.
"I feel it was a real failure of communication," said Treur, whose building has eight units. "They weren't giving out information to reduce our exposure."
The state's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services first announced that three of 19 mosquito traps in Miami Beach had captured Zika-positive mosquitoes on Sept. 1. A fourth batch was announced on Sept. 9, and a fifth on Sept. 16.
All of the mosquitoes were captured inside of a 1.5-square-mile area first identified on Aug. 19 as having active spread of the virus, between 8th and 28th streets from the ocean to the bay.
Since the last batch of Zika-positive mosquitoes was announced, however, no more traps have captured insects with the virus, according to a letter Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez sent to State Surgeon General Celeste Philip on Tuesday, advising Philip that the county would release the locations unless otherwise instructed by the health department.
In the letter, Gimenez said the five traps that captured mosquitoes carrying Zika virus were found on the following dates without identifying the addresses:
On Aug. 22, one sample tested positive from a trap at 932 Lenox Ave. Since then, 27 samples have been tested from that location, and all were negative.
On Aug. 23, two additional samples at 1619 Meridian and the Botanical Garden tested positive for Zika. Since then, 45 samples from those two locations have been tested, all of which were negative.
On Sept. 4, a sample from 2378 Prairie Ave. tested positive. Since then, 17 samples have been tested and all were negative.
On Sept. 9, a sample from 1236 Drexel Ave. tested positive, and since then 10 samples from the same area have tested negative for Zika.
Both the state and county had previously refused to disclose the locations, denying public records requests filed by the Herald. They said the records were exempt from the public records law because they were part of an epidemiological investigation.
The Herald filed suit Sept. 16 against the county seeking disclosure of the trap locations on grounds that the information would help the public make decisions about precautions to take if they live or work nearby, and also would inform the community debate on the use of the controversial insecticide naled, which is being used in Miami Beach to control the mosquito population.
On Sept. 23, during a hearing on the case, a county attorney said in court that the state had instructed local officials to keep the trap locations secret. But the state insisted that the decision lies solely with the county, calling the county's statements "completely false."
On Sunday, the dispute escalated, when both Gimenez and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine accused the Florida Department of Health of lying.
