Florida Health Officials Confirm New Zika Zone In Miami-Dade
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Florida health officials say there's another transmission zone of the Zika virus in Miami-Dade County.
On Thursday, the department confirmed Zika was spreading in an area from NW 79th St. to the North, NW 63rd St. to the South, NW 10th Ave. to the West and N. Miami Ave. to the East. The area is about 1 square mile.
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The Department of Health has identified five people - two women and three men - who have contracted the mostly mosquito-spread virus in the new Zika zone. Three of those people live in the one square mile area. The other two either work in or have visited this area.
Four of the cases in the new Zika zone have already been announced by the DOH.
The virus is considered a public health emergency due to its link to severe birth defects in women infected while pregnant and a possible link to Guillain-Barré Syndrome which causes paralysis.
As of Thursday, there were 155 non-travel related cases of the Zika virus and 736 travel-related cases. Of those, 106 of the cases involved pregnant women.
The department says they have evidence that Zika is only actively being transmitted in the two small areas in Miami Beach and this new area.
So far, the local transmission zones in Miami-Dade County are the following:
- Miami Beach Area - 28th Street to the north, 8th Street to the south, intercoastal water to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
- Miami Area - NW 79th St. to the North, NW 63rd St. to the South, NW 10th Ave. to the West and N. Miami Ave. to the East.
Click here for more information on the Zika virus or here for more Zika-related stories.
