Health officials in Florida are investigating what could be the first Zika infection from a mosquito bite in the continental United States, involving a resident of the Miami area.
Lab tests confirmed the Zika infection, according to statements from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Florida’s Department of Health.
The patient is an adult woman who lives in Miami-Dade County, according to a health official familiar with the case who wasn’t authorised to reveal details beyond the statements of the agencies involved, and thus spoke on condition of anonymity.
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More than 1,300 Zika infections have been reported in the U.S., none involving bites from local mosquitoes; 14 of these were sexually transmitted and one lab worker was stuck with a contaminated needle.
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Miami-Dade County has the most confirmed infections in Florida so far 88, but all have involved someone who travelled to areas such as Latin America and the Caribbean where Zika outbreaks are widespread.
Mosquito control inspectors have been going door-to-door in the Miami area under investigation since health authorities alerted them, spraying to kill mosquitoes and emptying containers of the water they need to breed.
If the virus is there, they want to keep it from spreading through more mosquito bites.
“We’re constantly in the area. We’re doing hand-held spraying, and we’ll do more truck spraying,” said Gayle Love, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County Solid Waste Management.