Four Zika Cases In Florida Transmitted By Local Mosquitoes
MEP: Four individuals have been infected with the Zika virus caused by local mosquitoes in Florida are probably the first cases contracted within the US, health officials say.
The announcement on Friday was made after the officials investigated the four cases of virus in southern part of the city that were believed not to be linked to sexual contact or travel to affected areas outside the US.
So far, cases outside of Latin America and the Caribbean, where the virus is prevalent, have been spread by travel to that region or sexual transmission.
The four Florida cases mean US mosquitoes may be carrying the virus.
“As we anticipated, Zika is here,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday, adding that “all the evidence we have seen indicates that this is mosquito-borne transmission that occurred several weeks ago.”
The cases involved a woman, and three other men, according to Florida Governor Rick Scott.
Florida has already seen almost 400 cases of Zika, all involving people who were infected while traveling to parts of the world where the virus is circulating.
