http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/us/florida-gets-help-to-deal-with-backlog-of-zika-tests.html 2016-09-15 04:45:46 Florida Gets Help to Deal With Backlog of Zika Tests The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending seven laboratory technicians, and Gov. Rick Scott has requested more help. === MIAMI — Gov. In a statement, Mr. Scott said the The governor also said more equipment was being rolled out. The Florida Department of Health bought additional lab equipment last week to help accelerate the process. Pregnant women are among those most threatened by the Zika virus because it can be passed to their fetuses. The virus can lead to “With more than 70 cases of locally acquired Zika in Florida, it is critically important that we continue to provide everyone, especially pregnant women, with test results as quickly as possible,” said Mr. Scott, who spent part of the week in Washington lobbying Congress to pass a bill that would free The Health Department said on Wednesday that so far 2,262 pregnant women had received free Zika testing. So many pregnant women took advantage of Florida’s offer of free The number of samples received by the state every day varies, but on average the department can process 140 of the blood or urine tests for the actual virus, and 90 of the antibody tests that can show if someone has had the virus in the last 12 weeks, said the Health Department’s spokeswoman, Mara Gambineri. Mr. Scott said that the demand for testing was increasing and that the state “must be prepared to respond.” The state recently began contracting some of the testing to a private company, LabCorp, but handles the bulk of the tests itself. Any positive results must be confirmed by the state, Ms. Gambineri said. Some of the delay in obtaining test results relates to the number of tests some women have to take to get a definitive answer. That can require several tests and, for some, a final test called the PRNT that must be conducted by the C.D.C. Results from that test can take up to four to five weeks to be delivered. As of Wednesday, 174 patient samples have been sent to the C.D.C. to rule out other mosquito-borne viruses like dengue, Ms. Gambineri said.