Zika in Florida: Second Possible Case of Local Transmission Under Investigation, Officials Say
Authorities investigating whether the new case was contracted in the U.S.
— -- Officials from the Florida Department of Health are looking into a second Zika case that may have been spread locally.
The infected person was diagnosed in Broward County, where officials are investigating whether the individual could have contracted the disease by traveling abroad, through sexual contact or via infected mosquitoes.
If they find the person contracted the disease from local mosquitoes carrying Zika, it will be the first time the virus is confirmed to have spread within the U.S. through mosquitoes.
Yesterday, the health department announced it was investigating a Zika case in Miami-Dade County as a possible instance of local transmission. Currently both cases are under investigation and the health department has yet to confirm whether or not they occurred due to local transmission of the virus.
Zika prevention kits and repellent have been made available at the Department of Health in Broward County and mosquito control is trapping mosquitoes to study.
The state surgeon general has requested help from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in studying these two cases.
There have been more than 1,300 people diagnosed with Zika in the U.S., but virtually all were infections contracted while abroad. A small number of cases were transmitted via sexual contact with partners who were infected abroad, according to health officials.
In order to be classified as a case of ongoing local Zika transmission, there needs to be two cases of Zika infection within a one-mile diameter within a month that are both unrelated to travel or sexual transmission, according to the CDC.
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