Zika Virus Travel Caution Extends to All of Miami-Dade County

 United States

Health officials confirmed new cases of the Zika virus in the Miami Beach area on Friday and announced an expansion of the virus's transmission zone that now includes some of Miami's most popular tourist areas. Photo: Getty

Federal health officials advised pregnant women and their partners on Friday to consider putting off travel to any part of Miami-Dade County after the state confirmed a second area of mosquito-borne Zika transmission covering some of the most alluring tourist areas of Miami Beach.

Pregnant women should avoid that area altogether, in addition to another zone of Zika transmission around the Wynwood arts district in Miami that Florida officials identified three weeks ago, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The CDC said it had extended its travel advice to all of Miami-Dade County because some cases have been reported outside of those two zones, indicating that mosquitoes are likely transmitting Zika more widely