--- title: Zika: U.S. Warns Virus Could Spread in Gulf States description: A National Institute of Health official said Gulf States like Texas and Louisiana are most vulnerable for a Zika virus outbreak canonical: https://time.com/4461029/zika-spread-gulf-states/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-22T13:01:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:07:00.832Z article:section: Health og:title: U.S. Warns Zika Could Spread in Gulf States og:description: Louisiana and Texas are most susceptible og:url: https://time.com/4461029/zika-spread-gulf-states/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2550f1b819c2650b/6988a328cd1bba5ad27020a5/zika-spread-gulf-state.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Close-Up Of Hand Holding Blood Sample For Zika Virus Test og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Warns Zika Could Spread in Gulf States twitter:description: Louisiana and Texas are most susceptible twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2550f1b819c2650b/6988a328cd1bba5ad27020a5/zika-spread-gulf-state.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. Warns Zika Could Spread in Gulf States by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 22, 2016 1:01 PM UTC  Sujata Jana—EyeEm/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 22, 2016 1:01 PM UTC A National Institute of Health official said Sunday that Gulf States like Texas and Louisiana are increasingly at risk of a Zika virus outbreak. Anthony Fauci, director of the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on [ABC’s “This Week,”](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dr-anthony-fauci-gulf-states-risk-zika-outbreak/story?id=41538806) that states along the Gulf Coast are most at risk from the mosquito-borne disease because they are in semi-tropical regions. Louisiana is especially susceptible, Fauci said, because of [recent flooding](http://time.com/4453545/louisiana-flooding-rain-baton-rouge/). “I would not be surprised if we see cases in Texas, in Louisiana, particularly now where you have a situation with flooding in Louisiana,” Fauci told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.” “There are going to be a lot of problems getting rid of standing water.” The Zika virus, [which has been linked to birth defects during pregnancy](http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/s0413-zika-microcephaly.html), has [spread through Florida](http://time.com/4459278/zika-is-spreading-in-miami-beach/), particularly in the Miami Beach area, with the total number of cases now at 36\. Fauci said that while he did not believe a widespread outbreak of Zika would hit the U.S., people should take the threat of the virus seriously. The “I do not think, although we need to be prepared for it, that we’re going to see a diffuse, broad outbreak in the United States because of a number of issues, particularly the conditions in our country … would not really make that a very likely happening,” he said, later adding, “Hopefully, we get to a point to where we could suppress it so that we won’t have any risk of it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4461029/zika-spread-gulf-states/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4461029/zika-spread-gulf-states/"},"headline":"U.S. Warns Zika Could Spread in Gulf States","datePublished":"2016-08-22T13:01:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:07:00.832Z","description":"Louisiana and Texas are most susceptible","url":"https://time.com/4461029/zika-spread-gulf-states/","keywords":["Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2550f1b819c2650b/6988a328cd1bba5ad27020a5/zika-spread-gulf-state.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2550f1b819c2650b/6988a328cd1bba5ad27020a5/zika-spread-gulf-state.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Close-Up Of Hand Holding Blood Sample For Zika Virus Test","caption":"Close-Up Of Hand Holding Blood Sample For Zika Virus Test","creditText":"Sujata Jana—EyeEm/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/zika/","name":"Zika"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4461029/zika-spread-gulf-states/","name":"U.S. Warns Zika Could Spread in Gulf States"}}]}] ```