--- title: Zika: 33 U.S. Military Members Have Contracted the Virus description: Thirty-three members of the U.S. military have contracted the Zika virus while serving overseas canonical: https://time.com/4437943/zika-military-service-members/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-03T21:31:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:17.105Z article:section: Health og:title: 33 Members of the U.S. Military Have Contracted Zika og:description: One of the service members is a pregnant woman og:url: https://time.com/4437943/zika-military-service-members/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3af3322eef53bfbf/6988a1093c16393f9045e5cb/zika-mosquitos.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Brazil Continues Battle Against Zika Virus Ahead Of Olympic Games og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 33 Members of the U.S. Military Have Contracted Zika twitter:description: One of the service members is a pregnant woman twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3af3322eef53bfbf/6988a1093c16393f9045e5cb/zika-mosquitos.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 33 Members of the U.S. Military Have Contracted Zika ## Video: Florida Governor Speaks Out on Zika Outbreak [Watch (HLS stream): Florida Governor Speaks Out on Zika Outbreak](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CUdEl3kx.m3u8) (0:43)  _Published 2016-07-29. Florida Governor Rick Scott speaks out and assures the public the recent Florida Zika outbreak is locally concentrated to two cities._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 3, 2016 9:31 PM UTC  Aedes aegypti mosquitos are seen in a lab at the Fiocruz Institute on June 2, 2016 in Recife, Brazil. Aedes aegypti mosquitos are seen in a lab at the Fiocruz Institute on June 2, 2016 in Recife, Brazil.Mario Tama/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 3, 2016 9:31 PM UTC Thirty-three members of the U.S. military have [contracted the Zika virus](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/03/politics/zika-33-military-members-contract-disease/index.html) while serving overseas, Pentagon officials said. One of the service members is a pregnant woman, [CNN reported](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/03/politics/zika-33-military-members-contract-disease/index.html). Health officials have linked Zika to severe birth defects in infants, leading to [greater concern](http://time.com/4433477/zika-virus-florida-travel-warning/) for [pregnant women with the virus](http://time.com/4385405/zika-lasts-way-longer-during-pregnancy-study/). Maj. Ben Sakrisson, a Pentagon spokesman, said an additional six people who are family members of military personnel have also contracted the virus, [according to CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/03/politics/zika-33-military-members-contract-disease/index.html). Officials said the service members are in countries where the virus has been identified, though they declined to specify where or how many people are still ill. The Army is working with partners to develop a Zika virus vaccine, CNN reported. The National Institutes of Health [announced Wednesday](http://time.com/4436970/zika-human-vaccine-trial/?xid=homepage) that 80 volunteers will test a new Zika vaccine in a human trial. The NIH [reports](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-begins-testing-investigational-zika-vaccine-humans) that there are more than 6,000 Zika cases in the continental U.S. and U.S. territories. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4437943/zika-military-service-members/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4437943/zika-military-service-members/"},"headline":"33 Members of the U.S. Military Have Contracted Zika","datePublished":"2016-08-03T21:31:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:17.105Z","description":"One of the service members is a pregnant woman","url":"https://time.com/4437943/zika-military-service-members/","keywords":["Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3af3322eef53bfbf/6988a1093c16393f9045e5cb/zika-mosquitos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3af3322eef53bfbf/6988a1093c16393f9045e5cb/zika-mosquitos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Brazil Continues Battle Against Zika Virus Ahead Of Olympic Games","caption":"Brazil Continues Battle Against Zika Virus Ahead Of Olympic Games","creditText":"Mario Tama/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/4437943/zika-military-service-members/","name":"33 Members of the U.S. Military Have Contracted Zika"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Florida Governor Speaks Out on Zika Outbreak","description":"Florida Governor Rick Scott speaks out and assures the public the recent Florida Zika outbreak is locally concentrated to two cities.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CUdEl3kx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-07-29T15:54:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CUdEl3kx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4437943/zika-military-service-members/","duration":"PT43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4437943/zika-military-service-members/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```