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Little River Zika Zone Lifted

Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced Friday, Dec. 2, 2016 that Miami's Little River neighborhood is no longer a Zika zone.
Kate Stein
/
WLRN
Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced Friday, Dec. 2, 2016 that Miami's Little River neighborhood is no longer a Zika zone.

Florida Gov.  Rick Scott announced Friday that the state Department of Health is lifting the Zika zone in Miami’s Little River neighborhood because 45 days have passed without any new local cases in the area.

“This is a good news day,” the governor said repeatedly. But he urged residents to remain vigilant. Zika infections have been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, which can cause intellectual disabilities, seizures and cerebral palsy.

"We want to make sure every child in our state -- we hope this for the entire nation and the entire world -- every child is born not having to deal with microcephaly," Scott said. "So we all have to continue to be aggressive."

Gov. Scott urged residents to continue to drain standing water and wear protective clothing and bug repellent -- especially during Art Basel this weekend.

Following Friday's announcement, the number of active Zika zones in Miami-Dade County is down to one. The remaining zone of active local transmission is a 1.5-square mile area on South Beach.

As of Thursday, Florida has 244 confirmed cases of locally transmitted Zika and 15 cases where the source of transmission is undetermined, according to a Health Department press release. In total, the state has 1,220 reported cases of Zika.

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Kate Stein can't quite explain what attracts her to South Florida. It's more than just the warm weather (although this Wisconsin native and Northwestern University graduate definitely appreciates the South Florida sunshine). It has a lot to do with being able to travel from the Everglades to Little Havana to Brickell without turning off 8th Street. It's also related to Stein's fantastic coworkers, whom she first got to know during a winter 2016 internship.Officially, Stein is WLRN's environment, data and transportation journalist. Privately, she uses her job as an excuse to rove around South Florida searching for stories à la Carl Hiaasen and Edna Buchanan. Regardless, Stein speaks Spanish and is always thrilled to run, explore and read.