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Miami-Dade Now Has 28 Locally-Acquired Cases Of Zika

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) --  Florida health officials announced Friday there were three new non-travel related cases of the Zika virus in Miami-Dade County.

Two of the new cases were exposed in the one-square mile of Wynwood, considered Zika transmission zone but the third case was located outside that zone.

This brings the total of locally acquired cases to 28, as of Friday.

On the same day, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy visited South Florida to address concerns over the virus.

Zika 101: Prevent Spread By Protecting Yourself

He attended a community education class at the Borinquen Medical Center where he spoke about Zika prevention and took questions from mothers in the audience at a birthing class.

"The most important reason I am here is the Zika virus," Murthy said.

He also addressed the lack of congressional funding.

"If everything comes together well, our hope would be that within a year to 18 months we might be able to have a vaccine. But there is a 'but' here, which is that depends on having the resources and funding to support vaccine development," Murthy said.

Money is also on the mind of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.  He sent a letter to the governor asking for reimbursement.

He said the county has spent an estimated to be $6 million dollars, which includes costs for aerial spraying, ground spraying, and outreach and education efforts.

Gimenez also asked for an economic recovery package for businesses in the Wynwood community.

Mothers, like Yolande Batista, say they are doing everything they can to protect themselves and their babies.

"I wear long sleeves daily, sunshine or rain, it don't matter," Batista said.

Batista and her husband Patrick are expecting a baby in January.  They're not taking any chances -- they're following the CDC precautions carefully.

"I wear long sleeves and I wear "Off" spray like perfume, daily, and we use condoms, or course, just to be cautious," said Batista.

Friday afternoon, Murthy is scheduled to join U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi at Nova Southeastern University in Davie where they will hold a virus stakeholders meeting with local, state and federal health officials to discuss the federal and state response to the disease

Also on Friday, just before dawn, planes loaded with insecticide took sprayed Miami's Wynwood neighborhood and Weston in western Broward for adult mosquitoes.

On Thursday it was a good news, bad news situation for residents and business owners in Wynwood.

The good news was that two sections within the so-called hot zone, located in the southwest quadrant of Wynwood, were declared free of Zika. That brings the total to 14 sections now Zika free.

That's exactly what gallery, bar and restaurant owners want to hear. They are desperate to get tourists and customers back into the area after travel warnings were issued, especially for pregnant women.

"We will have more traffic on the streets because it was really slow due to this Zika," said business owner Lucas Herraiz. "I think that it will be better."

Over the past several months the Zika virus has become a public health crisis. Currently in Florida there are 413 travel-related cases and 58 pregnant women are currently being monitored. Across the United States, there are more than 6,400 cases and 13 babies have been born with Zika-related birth defects.

Per the Governor Rick Scott's direction on August 3rd, all county health departments are now offering free Zika risk assessment and testing to any pregnant woman who would like to be tested.

Click here for more information on the Zika virus or here for more Zika-related stories.

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