Gov. Rick Scott asked Monday for a federal emergency response team to help the state combat the spread of the Zika virus in the U.S., saying the number of cases in Florida had increased to 14.
The new cases are clustered in the same square-mile neighborhood in Miami-Dade County identified last week. Florida health officials said in a news release Monday they believe active transmissions of Zika are occurring only in that area.
Officials announced four cases on Friday, believed to be first people to contract the virus from mosquitoes within the 50 states.
U.S. health officials do not expect widespread outbreaks of the sort seen in Brazil and Latin America. Although most people who get Zika don’t know they’re sick, infection during pregnancy can cause babies to be born with small heads and other defects.
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