Health experts warn pregnant women to avoid downtown neighborhood
MONDAY, Aug. 1, 2016 (HealthDay News) — The number of local transmissions of the Zika virus in South Florida has apparently increased to 14, Gov. Rick Scott said Monday.
Women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant should avoid the affected area that is just north of downtown Miami, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
State health officials on Friday reported four probable cases of local transmission of Zika in a one-square-mile neighborhood of Miami called Wynwood. Scott said Monday that the new cases are clustered in the same one-square-mile neighborhood identified last week. Florida health officials said in a news release Monday that they believe active transmissions of Zika are occurring only in that area.
“Today, the Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed that 10 additional people have contracted the Zika virus locally, likely through a mosquito bite,” Scott said in a news release from his office. “DOH has been testing individuals in three locations in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for possible local transmissions through mosquito bites. Based on DOH’s investigations, two locations have been ruled out for possible local transmissions of the Zika virus. DOH believes local transmissions are still only occurring in the same square-mile area of Miami.”
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