Florida health officials have identified 10 more people who likely contracted the Zika virus through a mosquito bite in the Miami-Dade County area, bringing the total to 14.
In response, Gov. Rick Scott has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to activate an Emergency Response Team to help the Florida Department of Health investigate.
The Florida Department of Health believes the additional Zika cases were contracted in the same roughly 1-mile area of Miami where the country’s first four cases were found to have originated.
The CDC is telling women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant to avoid the area, which is just north of downtown Miami.
“For women who live or work in the impacted area and are either pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, I urge you to contact your OB/GYN for guidance and to receive a Zika prevention kit,” Scott said in a release.
So far, more than 2,300 people in Florida have been tested for the Zika virus, including more than 200 in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties who live or work near the transmission area.
Of the 14 people that have been locally-infected, 12 are men and two are women.
Six of the 10 people announced today do not have any symptoms connected to the virus. They were identified when DOH officials conducted a door-to-door survey.
“We will continue to keep our residents and visitors safe utilizing constant surveillance and aggressive strategies, such as increased mosquito spraying, that have allowed our state to fight similar viruses,” Scott said in the statement.
The governor is meeting in Pinellas Park today to discuss the Zika virus with local officials.
