Miami Beach officials announced Thursday that two cases have been discovered in the city, NBC 6 Miami reported.
A source told NBC 6 news that one case was from a tourist that visited the city two weeks ago, while the other is from a resident who works on the beach.
State officials were expected to identify a specific geographic area for ongoing Zika transmission within Miami Beach Thursday afternoon, sources told the Miami Herald.
When reached for comment the Florida Department of Health released this statement:
We are continuing to investigate six cases that do not have an immediately evident link to the one-mile area where we believe local transmission is occurring. If investigations reveal additional areas of likely active transmission, the department will announce a defined area of concern.
In its daily update the DOH later confirmed two new non-travel related cases and said both are located outside of the one-square mile area in Miami-Dade County.
The department also announced 18 new travel-related cases Thursday with seven in Miami-Dade, four in Palm Beach, three in Broward, one in Brevard, one in Lee, one in Marion and one in Pinellas counties.
#BREAKING: Miami Beach announces two cases of Zika discovered in the city, including one tourist https://t.co/xHUFBjo8zc
— NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) August 18, 2016
#Zika now spreading in Miami Beach, across Biscayne Bay from #Wynwood, and heart of region's tourism industry. https://t.co/YJKEtejTdX
— Daniel Chang (@dchangmiami) August 18, 2016
. @MiamiBeachNews is in constant communication w/ @HealthyFla regarding best strategies to implement mosquito control.
— Jimmy Morales (@CityManagerMB) August 18, 2016
Our strategy has been & will continue to be focusing on elimination of potential breeding sites, educating residents, visitors & businesses
— Jimmy Morales (@CityManagerMB) August 18, 2016