Miami Beach mosquitoes test positive for Zika

Published: Updated:
(MGN)

zikalocaltransmissionaug24statescaleMIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Authorities have found the Zika virus in trapped mosquitoes from Miami Beach, the first time this has happened in the continental US.

Officials say 3 mosquitoes have tested positive. Florida agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam called the discovery “disappointing, but not surprising.”

The mosquitoes are from a 1.5-square-mile area where locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed, the Florida Department of Agriculture said. The agriculture department said 95 more trapped mosquitoes have tested negative since those three were found. Intensive trapping and testing continues.

The positive tests confirm the suspicion of health officials that Zika-infected mosquitoes are indeed present in south Florida. Locally transmitted cases in humans have been identified on Miami Beach and in a similarly sized area in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District, but prior to Thursday’s news, tests involving mosquitoes had yet to turn up any sign of the disease.

The Florida Department of Health said Thursday that it had identified two new non-travel-related Zika cases, bringing the statewide total to 49. One of those cases was in Wynwood and the other was in Miami Beach.

The spread of Zika has sparked concern nationwide, even though the areas of local transmission are still relatively small. Nearly half of Americans polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation in a survey released Thursday say they are wary of traveling to places in the U.S. where people have been infected with the Zika virus by mosquitoes.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.

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