Possible Second Zika Case in Florida: Officials

A possible second case of the Zika virus that may have been locally transmitted has turned up in Florida, state health officials say. The announcement of the case, in Broward County, comes two days after the state said it was investigating another homegrown case in Miami-Dade County, The New York Times reports.

If confirmed, the cases would be the first times a person has been infected with the virus by a mosquito in the continental United States. More than 1,300 confirmed Zika cases have been reported in the country, but all of them had been contracted through travel abroad — by a mosquito bite or by sexual intercourse with someone who had traveled to a Zika-infected area.

Florida state health officials are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to analyze the two cases.

Zika is transmitted by mosquitoes or by sex with a person who has been infected and causes brain damage and neurological disorders in babies born to mothers who contracted it in pregnancy.