One new local Zika infection in Miami Beach

Health officials on Wednesday reported one more local Zika infection linked to Miami Beach, and an additional nine travel-related cases across Florida — raising the statewide total to 866 people who have acquired the virus this year, including 89 pregnant women.

 

Interactive feature: Daily Florida Zika virus tracker

A total of 99 mosquito-borne Zika infections have been reported in Florida, including 10 cases involving out-of-state residents, the health department said. An additional 678 travel-related Zika infections, excluding pregnant women, also have been reported in Florida, with 221 cases in Miami-Dade and 111 in Broward.

The majority of local Zika infections in Florida have been reported in Miami-Dade County, which remains the only place in the nation where mosquitoes are actively spreading the virus in a 4.5-square-mile area of Miami Beach between 8th and 63rd Streets from the ocean to the bay.

 

Earlier this week, state health officials and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted a travel advisory warning pregnant women to avoid a one-square-mile section of Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood where mosquitoes were spreading Zika starting June 15.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared the area free of Zika after after 45 days without any new infections recorded. Scott said repeated rounds of aerial spraying, backpack fogging and other measures had helped reduce mosquito counts in the area.

At least 30 local infections of Zika are linked to Wynwood, and an additional 40 are linked to Miami Beach, where state officials also have reported finding at least five batches of mosquitoes that tested positive for the virus.

This story was originally published September 21, 2016 at 4:12 PM with the headline "One new local Zika infection in Miami Beach."