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By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Oct. 20, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials are now recommending that all pregnant women who have recently spent time in any part of Miami-Dade County in Florida be tested for Zika infection.
Previously, testing had only been urged for pregnant women who had been in areas of the county where Zika had been spreading locally. This latest advisory extends that recommendation to the entire county and covers the period going back to Aug. 1, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Reports of local spread of the mosquito-borne virus continue to come in from Miami-Dade County, the CDC said. Florida is the only state to report local transmission of the virus that can cause devastating birth defects.
"Zika continues to pose a threat to pregnant women living in or traveling to Miami-Dade County," Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the CDC's division of vector-borne diseases, said in the statement. "Our guidance today strengthens our travel advice and testing recommendations for pregnant women, to further prevent the spread of the infection among those most vulnerable."
There have been 165 Zika cases in the state spread by local mosquitoes, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Zika is typically spread by the bites of mosquitoes, but it can be spread through sex. In most people, the symptoms are mild. But, infection during pregnancy can cause babies to be born with severe birth defects that include microcephaly, where the brain and head are abnormally small.
The new testing advice also extends to pregnant women who weren't in Miami-Dade themselves, but who had unprotected sex with someone who had been in the county recently.
Pregnant women should still postpone travel to the county if possible and stay out of the two remaining areas where Zika is spreading locally, Miami Beach and an area just north of the Little Haiti neighborhood, the CDC said.
At one point, Florida had three areas where Zika was spreading locally, but the Wynwood neighborhood is no longer considered an active transmission zone.