1st LD Writethru: U.S. says "high likelihood" of Zika spreading locally

Health officials in Florida said Friday there is a "high likelihood" that the state has the first cases of local Zika virus transmission by mosquitoes in the continental United States.

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) said in a statement that it has gathered "enough information" in its investigation into the four possible non-travel related Zika cases in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to "conclude that a high likelihood exists that four cases are the result of local transmission."

"At this time, the department believes that active transmissions of the Zika virus are occurring in one small area in Miami-Dade county, just north of downtown," it said.

Florida Governor Rick Scott identified one of the four patients as a woman while the other three were men and said they are all active Zika cases and have not exhibited symptoms to be admitted to the hospital.

"While no mosquitoes have tested positive for the Zika virus, DOH is aggressively testing people in this area to ensure there are no other cases," Scott said in a statement.

"Now that Florida has become the first state to have a local transmission, likely through a mosquito, we will continue to put every resource available to fighting the spread of Zika in our state," he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Florida officials have responded rapidly with mosquito control measures and a community-wide search for additional Zika cases and that under the current situation, there are no plans for limiting travel to the area.

The U.S. agency said it has provided Florida more than eight million U.S. dollars in Zika-specific funding and about 27 million dollars in emergency preparedness funding that can be used for Zika response efforts.

"We have been working with state and local governments to prepare for the likelihood of local mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission in the continental United States and Hawaii," said Lyle Petersen, incident manager for CDC's Zika virus response.

"We anticipate that there may be additional cases of 'homegrown' Zika in the coming weeks. Our top priority is to protect pregnant women from the potentially devastating harm caused by Zika," said Petersen.

More than 1,600 Zika cases have been reported on the U.S. mainland, but previously all cases have been linked to travel to affected areas or sexual contact with an infected person.

Most people infected with Zika won't have symptoms, even for those who do, the illness is usually mild. However, Zika infection during pregnancy can cause a serious birth defect of the brain called microcephaly and other severe fetal birth defects. Endit