Florida cases a first sign Zika spread locally in US

ORLANDO/ MIAMI: Florida authorities reported the first sign of local Zika transmission in the continental United States, concluding that mosquitoes likely infected four people with the virus that can cause a rare but serious birth defect.

Governor Rick Scott said the state believed active transmission of the virus was occurring within an area of Miami about the size of a square mile (2.6 square km). Testing showed that one woman and three men had been infected, Scott said.

While health officials have yet to identify mosquitoes carrying the virus, the state has ruled out other means of transmission, including travel to another country with a Zika outbreak, and sexual contact.

“This means Florida has become the first state in the nation to have local transmission of the Zika virus,” Scott said.

Zika appears to pose the greatest risk when it infects pregnant women, given its ability to cause microcephaly in babies, a condition defined by small head size that can lead to developmental problems.

The current outbreak was first detected in Brazil last year and has since spread rapidly through the Americas. Florida Surgeon General Celeste Philip said that health officials are not advising pregnant women to move out of the suspected transmission area.

“We do not believe there will be ongoing transmission,” Philip said at a press conference in Orlando.

The local health department is searching for other potential infections, with more than 2,300 people tested so far in the state, is ramping up mosquito control programmes.