Florida Governor Rick Scott confirmed on Tuesday that there are five new cases of non-travel related Zika, including one in the Tampa Bay area following the very specific travel advisory earlier this month warning visitors and residents to stay out of the Wynwood Arts district in Miami.
At a Zika roundtable held Tuesday, The Washington Post reports that Gov. Scott confirmed that the four new cases are directly tied to mosquitoes in the Wynwood district while the fifth was diagnosed in a Pinellas County resident who had not travelled internationally.
Despite this alarming development, officials have not yet declared the Tampa Bay region a zone of active local transmission. In a statement, Gov. Scott said “While this investigation is ongoing, DOH still believes that ongoing active transmissions are only occurring in the two previously identified areas in Wynwood and Miami Beach.”
Officials are also investigating whether or not the case in Pinellas County is the cause of the latest case being infected elsewhere and returning to their home. Out of an abundance of caution, they are also not revealing where this person lives. Officials are hopeful that this is just an isolated case and not an indicator that the virus has spread, despite the fact that mosquitoes are winged creatures that fly with reckless abandon.