Local Zika case reported in Pinellas
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday announced the first local case of Zika outside of South Florida — in Pinellas County — along with four more in Wynwood.
A total of 42 local Zika infections have reportedly been contracted in four Florida counties this year: with one each in Broward, Palm Beach and now Pinellas, and the remainder in Miami-Dade — where health officials have identified two zones where mosquitoes are actively transmitting the disease: Wynwood and Miami Beach.
The single case in Pinellas does not mean that mosquitoes are spreading Zika to other people in that area. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a local outbreak as two or more people infected with Zika who do not share a household, with travel and sexual transmission ruled out, and who acquired the disease within one-square-mile over a period of two weeks or more.
In announcing the news on Tuesday, Scott also declared a small victory in Wynwood that has not been endorsed by the CDC.
The governor said Florida’s health department has “cleared” about half of the one-square-mile zone of active transmission in Wynwood because further testing for Zika virus has not produced evidence of further transmission.
The state’s total number of non-travel related cases is 42.
David J. Neal: 305-376-3559, @DavidJNeal
This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Local Zika case reported in Pinellas."