If Adam Gase schemes against AFC East defenses as aggressively as his new organization attacks mosquitos, the Miami Dolphins may be on their way to a great season.
As Zika fears intensify across South Florida and beyond, the Dolphins have been proactive about battling the insect-transmitted virus – even as experts caution pregnant women about visiting Miami until the threat has passed.
The organization will use backpack foggers 48 hours before every home game – including Thursday’s preseason finale at home against the Tennessee Titans and Saturday’s home opener for the University of Miami – and has endeavored to treat the 265 acres of the property around Hard Rock Stadium for weeks. That has included going after anywhere mosquitos can breed, whether it’s retention ponds, drainage areas or landscaping. The goal is not only to protect players and fans, but also the many workers who renovated the stadium throughout the summer months. Only EPA-approved chemicals have been used, according to the team.
That’s not to say there isn’t worry. The disease can cause catastrophic birth defects, and is not yet preventable through vaccines.
“If you’re pregnant, you probably ought not to go to a game there,” said William Schaffner, infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. “That’s the first thing. Beyond the hot zones, women who are pregnant should seriously consider not going. If it was my wife, she should stay home, no matter how much she loves the Dolphins.”
Schaffner advises the same for women who are considering becoming pregnant. The CDC advises pregnant women and their partners to “consider postponing nonessential travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County.”
“Pregnancies are so treasured and so important,” Schaffner says. “There are going to be many other opportunities to go to sports games.”
Hard Rock Stadium is not near a “hot zone.” It’s 15 miles away. Still, the Dolphins wanted to reduce both mosquitos and concerns about mosquitos, as the club knew any decision to travel in South Florida would be a difficult one. There have been 545 total cases statewide not involving pregnant women, and 75 involving pregnant women, regardless of symptoms.
A recent St. Leo’s University poll found nearly 80 percent of respondents in Florida are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the Zika virus. That’s up from roughly 71 percent in June.
According to the Florida Department of Health, local transmissions of Zika (not travel related) have been found in only two small areas in Miami-Dade County: one near downtown and the other in Miami Beach.
Dolphin ticket demand hasn’t seemed to suffer despite the negative headlines.
“Overall, Dolphins ticket prices from last season to this season have remained steady,” Nate Rattner of SeatGeek said, “with just a slight 2 percent drop in average resale price for tickets to home games [$179 average resale for the 2015 season at this time last year to $176 this year].”
There are tickets available on SeatGeek for Thursday’s game for as low as $8, but Rattner says the overall price point is “in line with Dolphins preseason games over the past few seasons.”
One Dolphins official said he had not heard of any calls from fans expressing worries about the Zika threat at Hard Rock.
For those who go, Schaffner recommends wearing long sleeves and pants, no matter what the temperature, and (obviously) applying bug spray before setting out for the stadium. Some Orlando theme parks are offering free repellent, though the Dolphins have not planned to do so.
“If everyone has repellent,” he says, “mosquitos won’t go within a mile of that place.”
Zika fears caused several top golfers to skip the Summer Olympics, yet as of last week there were zero confirmed cases in Rio during the Games.
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