MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Health officials announced Thursday a new Zika zone in Miami – a setback less than a month after declaring the nearby Wynwood neighborhood cleared of the virus following aggressive mosquito spraying.
Five people have been infected with Zika in a 1-square-mile area of the city just north of the Little Haiti neighborhood and about 3 miles north of Wynwood, according to a statement released Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott’s office.
It is the third Miami-area neighborhood identified where mosquitoes have transmitted the virus to people, after Wynwood and a touristy section of Miami Beach, which is still considered an active transmission zone. Wynwood was declared free of the virus after 45 days went by without any new infections.
These are the first such areas of transmission confirmed in the continental U.S., following major outbreaks in Latin America of the disease, which can cause major birth defects, including stunted heads.
A travel advisory for the area for pregnant women was expected, similar to current warnings for pregnant women to consider postponing non-essential travel to Miami Beach and the rest of Miami-Dade County, said Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.