"US Urges Aerial Spraying Amid Jump In Puerto Rico Zika Cases"

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — As many as 50 pregnant women in Puerto Rico are becoming infected with Zika every day, top U.S. health officials said Wednesday as they urged the U.S. territory to strongly consider aerial spraying to prevent further spread of the mosquito-borne virus.

The warning came as Puerto Rico debates whether to fumigate with the insecticide Naled, a proposal that has sparked protests in the U.S. territory over concerns about its impact on human health and wildlife.

Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press that aerial spraying is the island’s best defense to fight a virus that can cause microcephaly, a rare defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brain damage."

Danica Coto reports for the Associated Press July 6, 2016.