The Zika Virus Has Arrived In The Continental U.S.

Four cases of the Zika virus were diagnosed north of downtown Miami at the weekend, more than likely spread by local mosquitos. They were swiftly followed by a further ten cases, prompting U.S. federal health officials to warn pregnant women to avoid the neighborhood where the outbreak occurred. It marks the first time in history that people have been advised to avoid a U.S. community on health grounds.

CDC data released late last week shows that there were a total of 1,658 Zika cases in the continental U.S. as of July 27 and most of them were travel-related. The weekend's cases coupled with those earlier this week brings the number of cases locally acquired through mosquitos to 14. There are now reports of a new locally transmitted case in Miami-Dade County, outside the neighborhood where the other instances of Zika occurred. U.S. overseas territories have had to cope with a worse situation with 4,729 cases in total, the vast majority of which were locally transmitted.