New Zika zone identified in Miami's Little River area
MIAMI _ At least five people have contracted Zika virus from mosquitoes in Miami's Little River neighborhood, Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced Thursday, identifying a one-square-mile zone where the disease is spreading.
Scott's office issued a news release identifying the area after the Florida Department of Health confirmed that two women and three men had contracted Zika. Three of the people live in the square-mile area, and two either work there or recently visited, according to the governor's announcement.
The new zone _ between Northwest 79th and 63rd Streets from Northwest 10th Avenue to North Miami Avenue _ is the second in Miami-Dade County where mosquitoes are known to be spreading Zika. The other is a 4.5-square-mile area of Miami Beach covering most of South Beach and Middle Beach.
In his announcement, Scott said he was requesting the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work with Miami-Dade mosquito control to contain the virus's spread.
"We have seen that aggressive mosquito control efforts have worked in areas like Wynwood," Scott said in the statement, "and we hope the county also aggressively sprays in this area so we can limit the spread of this virus and protect pregnant women and their growing babies."
Florida health officials have confirmed 1,021 Zika infections statewide this year, with 174 mosquito-borne cases and 842 travel-related cases, including 106 pregnant women. An additional five cases are labeled "undetermined" after health department investigators failed to identify the area of exposure.
Miami-Dade has the most Zika infections of any county, with 237 travel-related cases and 163 mosquito-borne cases this year. Of Miami-Dade's local infections, 65 are linked to exposure in Miami Beach and 36 to mosquitoes in Wynwood.
_Miami Herald
