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Zika virus: Updated guidance for Miami area

Aedes aegypti/CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated guidance for people who travel to or live in Miami-Dade County to lift the Zika cautionary (yellow) area designation. There have been no new cases of local Zika virus transmission identified and no cases under investigation in Miami-Dade County for more than 45 days. Lifting the yellow area designation means that there are no longer any travel recommendations related to Zika virus for Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Image/CDC

Although we do not know the level of risk of Zika virus transmission after a yellow area designation is lifted, it is likely to be low. However, sporadic cases may still occur. Zika virus can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus during pregnancy. Infection can cause microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects. For this reason, we recommend that people living in or traveling to Miami-Dade County continue to protect themselves from mosquito-borne illnesses, including Zika virus.

As of May 24, 2017, a total of 5,300 cases of Zika virus infection have been reported in the continental United States and Hawaii through CDC’s ArboNET. These cases include 224 locally transmitted mosquito-borne cases, 48 cases believed to be the result of sexual transmission, one case that was the result of a laboratory exposure, and one case that was the result of person-to-person transmission through an unknown route.

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