Video - Florida concludes Zika is being spread there by mosquitoes, a first in the continental U.S.

Florida and federal officials on Friday announced the first local spread of the Zika virus through infected mosquitoes in the continental United States. Gov. Rick Scott made the announcement following a health department investigation into four suspected cases in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Scott said transmission was confined to a small neighborhood just north of Miami and involved one woman and three men. “We learned today that four people in our state likely have the Zika virus as a result of a mosquito bite," he said during a press conference. "All four of these people live in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, and the Florida Department of Health believes that active transmissions of this virus could be occurring in one small area in Miami." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has been closely coordinating with Florida and sent a medical epidemiologist at the state's request, made the same pronouncement a short time later. "The cases are likely the first known occurrence of local mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission in the continental United States," its statement noted. The CDC said state officials have responded rapidly with mosquito-control measures and a community-wide search for additional Zika cases. Because the virus can have devastating consequences for a fetus, the CDC recommends that pregnant women or women thinking about becoming pregnant postpone travel to Zika-affected regions. But the current situation in Florida does not warrant travel limitations to the Miami area, according to the CDC statement...more