CDC issues travel warning for pregnant women in Florida over Zika threat

Scott said he has asked for a federal emergency response team to help the state respond to the outbreak of the virus that is harmless to most people but can cause devastating birth defects.

Women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant should avoid the affected area that is just north of downtown Miami, a travel warning from the U.

S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

State health officials on Friday reported four probable cases of local transmission of Zika in a 1-square-mile neighborhood of Miami called Wynwood. If confirmed, these would be the first cases of local transmission of Zika virus by mosquitoes in the continental United States. Most Zika infections have occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil has reported the vast majority of cases and the birth defect microcephaly, which results in newborns with smaller-than-normal heads and underdeveloped brains.

Scott said Monday that the new cases are clustered in the same 1-square-mile neighborhood …