English public health officials are warning pregnant women to delay travel to Florida after the state discovered four cases of Zika infections from mosquito bites.
The Public Health Department of England updated its travel warning for Florida from low to moderate after federal and local officials announced Friday the first cases of mosquitoes spreading the virus within the continental U.S. England wants pregnant women to consider postponing non-essential travel, but still says that all travelers should continue to go to the U.S.
The U.S. has more than 1,400 cases of Zika but until Friday there weren’t any cases of mosquitoes spreading the virus within U.S. borders. The virus spreads primarily by mosquito bites. A majority of the 1,400 cases were from people who got the virus in another country or territory.
The four cases of mosquito transmission occurred several weeks ago in Miami, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention.
“We anticipate that there may be additional cases of ‘homegrown’ Zika in the coming weeks,” said Lyle Peterson, incident manager for CDC’s Zika virus response, in a statement Friday. “Our top priority is to protect pregnant women from the potentially devastating harm caused by Zika.”
While Zika causes a mild illness, it is linked to the birth defect microcephaly, hence the warnings for pregnant women. CDC believes women in their first trimester are at the highest risk of contracting microcephaly through a Zika infection.
