Part of Miami Beach get Zika reprieve

Gov. Scott announces Florida Department of Health cleared northern portion

A part of Miami Beach has been lifted from the state's Zika zone.

Gov. Rick Scott announced Tuesday that the Florida Department of Health cleared the northern portion of an area in Miami Beach where local transmission of the mosquito-borne Zika virus has occurred.

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The agency cleared the three-mile area after no new local transmissions had been detected in the area in more than 45 days.

Zika transmissions are considered to remain active in about 1.5 square miles of Miami Beach, between 8th and 28th streets.

Another area, about one-square-mile in the Little River area of Miami, also remains within a Zika zone.

"DOH now believes active transmissions of Zika are only occurring in the southern part of Miami Beach and the Little River area, and we must continue to take aggressive mosquito control measures so we can soon lift these remaining areas," Scott said in a prepared statement. "DOH has made resources available to Miami-Dade County to increase mosquito abatement efforts, including aerial spraying."

Zika is particularly dangerous to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects.

The Department of Health said Florida has had 1,201 reported cases of Zika, with 10 new "travel related" cases reported Tuesday.

In such cases, people are infected elsewhere and bring the virus into Florida.

Five of the new travel-related cases were in Orange County, four were in Broward County, and one was in Miami-Dade.