There is a new Zika transmission zone in Miami and five people have been infected.
Scientists announced a mile-square patch of northern Miami, around the Little Haiti neighborhood, that runs from NW 79th Street in the north to NW 63rd Street in the south. On the east the new zone’s border is North Miami Avenue, and on the west it’s NW 10th Avenue.
The five people newly infected people are two women and three men. Three of them live in the area, and the other two work or visit there. The Florida Department of Health is going door to door in the area, telling people that the virus is now circulating there.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott released a statement calling on the federal government to help with additional funds to combat the disease. “It has been two weeks since federal funding to fight Zika was approved by Congress and signed by President Obama,” Scott wrote. “However, Florida has not yet received a dime. We don’t need bureaucratic timelines – we need funding now.”
Zika causes mild illness in most people, but it can be dangerous for pregnant women because it has been linked to birth defects and brain damage in babies born to infected mothers.
