Miami Herald Sues County for Location of Zika Mosquitoes, Gets It

September 28, 2016

It took a lawsuit from the Miami Herald to get the government to release the locations of mosquito traps that captured Zika-positive insects. The information came out today.

Miami-Dade county had stiff-armed a request from the Herald for the information, and denied a request under freedom-of-information law. The county claimed the information was exempt for public health reasons.

The Herald sued the county on September 16, 2016, in an effort to get the information. The Herald said that the public needed the location information to protect their health against not only mosquito-borne Zika virus, but also against possible health harms from the naled insecticide being sprayed to combat them.

The county had maintained it was withholding the information because it had been instructed to do so by the state of Florida. State officials denied that, and eventually gave local governments explicit clearance to release the information.