Mosquitoes Now Spreading Zika in Miami Beach

Five new cases confirmed in Miami
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2016 3:33 PM CDT
Mosquitoes Now Spreading Zika in Miami Beach
A City of Miami Beach Sanitation worker gets ready to clean the alleyways of South Beach, sucking up still waters and debris with a mobile vacuum, on Friday.   (C.M. Guerrero/El Nuevo Herald via AP)

Mosquitoes are spreading Zika in a whole new area of Miami, the CDC announced Friday. USA Today reports five new cases of mosquito-spread Zika have popped up in a 1.5-square-mile area of Miami Beach, including popular tourist area South Beach. In fact, three of the five patients were visiting Miami Beach when they contracted Zika, according to the Washington Post. There have now been 36 cases of mosquito-spread Zika in Miami. Mosquitoes had already been confirmed to be spreading the virus in the Wynwood neighborhood, which is several miles and a bay away from Miami Beach.

Officials believe they have the situation under control in Wynwood, NPR reports. But it will be more difficult to contain the Zika outbreak in Miami Beach due to its high-rise buildings and aversion to long pants and sleeves. Officials are warning pregnant women who've visited Miami Beach since July 14 to consider being tested for Zika. Couples who've traveled to the area should wait at least eight weeks before trying to get pregnant. Officials believe it's likely mosquitoes are spreading Zika elsewhere in Miami, and the CDC is warning pregnant women to "consider postponing nonessential travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County." (More Zika virus stories.)

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