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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Tests Confirm Zika|in Florida Mosquitoes

(CN) — Florida agriculture officials said Thursday that mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus have been found in the continental United States for the first time, after three samples from Miami Beach tested positive for the virus.

The agency tested 95 other samples from Miami-Dade County, but the rest have been negative so far.

"This find is disappointing, but not surprising," Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam said in a statement Thursday. "Florida is among the best in the nation when it comes to mosquito surveillance and control, and this detection enables us to continue to effectively target our resources."

Zika was initially detected in the North Miami neighborhood of Wynwood in July, after four infections were reported in the area. Miami Beach became the second area in the continental United States to experience local transmission shortly thereafter.

At least 47 people have been infected by mosquitoes so far in the Florida outbreak, which as of Thursday afternoon remains the only state to experience local transmission of the virus. Health officials had previously confirmed through epidemiological investigations that the virus was spreading via insects rather than through travel to an afflicted region or sexual contact with an infected person.

Miami-Dade County's mosquito-control team has been spraying for mosquitoes as well as treating their breeding grounds.

"We are aggressively working to eliminate any and all potential mosquito breeding grounds. We are also working closely with our partners at the state and the county to ensure all resources are effectively deployed," Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said in a statement Thursday. "Together we can contain and eliminate all cases of Zika."

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