One new case of Zika virus in Miami-Dade raises Florida total to 60

With one new case of Zika virus infection confirmed in Miami-Dade on Monday, the total number of infections statewide reached 60, the Florida Department of Health reported.

Of the cases confirmed in Florida since Feb. 9, four people are still exhibiting symptoms — and the number of pregnant women who have been infected with the Zika virus remains at four.

Pregnant women are at greatest risk because of recent findings establishing a link between an outbreak of Zika in Brazil and a concurrent spike in microcephaly, a birth defect in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head and an underdeveloped brain.

So far, all but one case of sexual transmission in Polk County were acquired by travelers outside the state, the health department reported.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that between Jan. 1 and March 9 there were 193 reported cases of Zika virus in the U.S.

Zika is primarily transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquito bites, although the spread of the virus also has been reported through blood transfusions and by men to their sexual partners.

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 2:31 PM with the headline "One new case of Zika virus in Miami-Dade raises Florida total to 60."