Categories: Brevard County

Fourth Zika Virus Case Confirmed In Brevard County

BREVARD COUNTY, Florida – Another case of the Zika virus has been confirmed on Florida’s Space Coast, raising the total number of confirmed cases in Brevard County, Florida to four. In addition to Brevard County, new Zika cases were also confirmed on Thursday in Duval County and Seminole County.

As of June 16, 2016, there have been 185 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in Florida – all of which have been travel related.

Although local transmissions have not occurred in the Sunshine State, local transmissions are possible if a Zika infected visitor or returning traveler is bitten by Florida mosquitoes that then spread the virus to other people they bite.

A recent NASA study predicts that locally acquired outbreaks are most likely to occur in Florida during July during peak mosquito and travel season.

The Zika virus is spread by bites from two mosquito species: Aedes aegypti (primarily) and Aedes albopictus, both found in Florida. In addition to the Zika virus, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can also transmit dengue fever, Chikungunya virus, West Nile virus, and Yellow Fever.

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, babies born with the Zika virus transmitted from their mothers who contracted the disease while pregnant have developed microcephaly – a disease which causes the babies’ brains and heads to shrink. Women who are pregnant or could become pregnant should avoid travel to Zika-affected areas, including Florida.

Florida counties where the Zika virus has been detected as of June 16, 2016 (excluding 38 pregnant cases):

County	Number of Cases (all travel related)
Alachua	4
Brevard	4
Broward	24
Clay	2
Collier	2
Duval	1
Escambia	1
Hillsborough	4
Lee	5
Martin	1
Miami-Dade	55
Orange	11
Osceola	6
Palm Beach	10
Pasco	2
Pinellas	4
Polk	3
Santa Rosa	1
Seminole	6
St. Johns	2
Volusia	2
Total cases not involving pregnant women	147