--- title: Florida Confirms First Cases of Local Zika Transmission description: One women and three men were infected with the Zika virus in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties canonical: https://time.com/4430449/florida-confirms-first-cases-of-zika-caught-from-local-mosquitoes/ author: Rosalie Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-29T14:33:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:39:23.429Z article:section: Health og:title: Florida Confirms First Cases of Local Zika Transmission og:description: The four cases are likely to be from mosquito bites og:url: https://time.com/4430449/florida-confirms-first-cases-of-zika-caught-from-local-mosquitoes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53baa5ef060bfc47/6988a04dcd1bba6e52701be3/gettyimages-537671534.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3240 og:image:height: 1823 og:image:alt: Brazil Continues Battle Against Zika Virus Ahead Of Olympic Games og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Florida Confirms First Cases of Local Zika Transmission twitter:description: The four cases are likely to be from mosquito bites twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53baa5ef060bfc47/6988a04dcd1bba6e52701be3/gettyimages-537671534.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Florida Confirms First Cases of Zika Caught From Local Mosquitoes > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Rosalie Chan](https://time.com/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Jul 29, 2016 2:33 PM UTC  RECIFE, BRAZIL - JUNE 02: Aedes aegypti mosquitos are seen in a lab at the Fiocruz Institute on June 2, 2016 in Recife, Brazil. Microcephaly is a birth defect linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus where infants are born with abnormally small heads. The Brazilian city of Recife and surrounding Pernambuco state remain the epicenter of the Zika virus outbreak, which has now spread to many countries in the Americas. A group of health experts recently called for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to be postponed or cancelled due to the Zika threat but the WHO (World Health Organization) rejected the proposal. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) RECIFE, BRAZIL - JUNE 02: Aedes aegypti mosquitos are seen in a lab at the Fiocruz Institute on June 2, 2016 in Recife, Brazil. Microcephaly is a birth defect linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus where infants are born with abnormally small heads. The Brazilian city of Recife and surrounding Pernambuco state remain the epicenter of the Zika virus outbreak, which has now spread to many countries in the Americas. A group of health experts recently called for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to be postponed or cancelled due to the Zika threat but the WHO (World Health Organization) rejected the proposal. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Mario Tama—Getty Images by [Rosalie Chan](https://time.com/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Jul 29, 2016 2:33 PM UTC [Florida](http://time.com/4429314/zika-fda-stop-blood-donations-florida/?iid=sr-link7)‘s Department of Health announced Friday that four people infected with the [Zika virus](http://time.com/topic/zika-virus/?iid=sr-link8) probably caught it from local mosquitoes. One woman and three men were infected with the Zika virus in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Florida’s Department of Health believes that the transmissions of the Zika virus are occurring in one small area in Miami-Dade County. This is the only area where the department is testing for local transmissions of Zika. Florida had its first travel-related case of Zika in February, and the Department of Health started [investigating the possible non-travel related cases of Zika](http://time.com/4414677/zika-virus-florida/) in Miami-Dade and Broward counties last week. Florida Governor Rick Scott has directed the Department of Health to contract pest control companies to control mosquitoes in the area. “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](http://www.flgov.com/2016/07/29/gov-scott-with-likely-mosquito-borne-zika-cases-state-will-use-full-resources-to-protect-floridians/). Scott also said that Florida plans to put every resource available to fight the spread of Zika in Florida, and he says people in Florida should take precautions by eliminating standing water and wearing insect repellant. 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