The Florida Department of Health has confirmed the first case of Zika Virus in Leon County. The move comes as the state initiates an aerial spraying in a Miami neighborhood where the virus has been spread by local transmission.
The Leon county case is travel-related, say state and local health officials. The first Leon County infection was confirmed Friday.
There are now more than 400 reports cases of Zika virus throughout the state, 16 are believed to have been transmitted locally. That means they were spread from person-to-person, or person-to-mosquito-to-person.
The Wynwood neighborhood of Miami has been under aerial spraying to kill adult mosquitos. That neighborhood has been under a quarantine of sorts as officials try to combat the spread of a local transmission there. And the biotech company Oxitec has announced it has received permission from the federal government to begin testing a genetically-engineered mosquito that can kill other adults.
Centers for Disease Control Director Tom Frieden said Thursday Zika is the first mosquito-born infection that's been known to cause birth defects. More than 1,825 cases of the virus have been reported in the U.S. so far.
