THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

And Republicans sat on funding for Zika research and will probably continue to do so when they return from their summer long break.

Four cases of Zika infection in Miami are highly likely to have been caused by infected mosquitoes, the state Department of Health said Friday — the first documented instance of local transmission in the continental United States.

Officials in Florida believe that the area of active transmission is limited to a one-square-mile area just north of downtown Miami. No mosquitoes tested have been found carrying the Zika virus, and the department is going door to door in the neighborhood collecting urine samples to test residents.

Miami-Dade County is one of the busiest ports of entry into the United States from countries where the Zika virus is circulating. Health experts have long described it as one of the areas most at risk for an outbreak of the disease.

Gov. Rick Scott said in a statement that the four cases involve three men and one woman. He did not indicate whether the woman was pregnant.

“While no mosquitoes have tested positive for the Zika virus,” Mr. Scott said, the Health Department “is aggressively testing people in this area to ensure there are no other cases. If you live in this area and want to be tested, I urge you to contact the county health department.”

Of the four people infected, he said, “They are all active Zika cases and have not exhibited symptoms to be admitted to the hospital.”

The neighborhood that the authorities are focusing on is in the Wynwood area, bound by Northwest Fifth Avenue, U.S. 1, Northwest/Northeast 38th Street and Northwest/Northeast 20th Street.

The virus, transmitted by mosquitoes or by sex with an infected person, causes brain damage and neurological disorders in babies born to mothers who contracted it in pregnancy. In rare cases, it can also cause a form of temporary paralysis.

So far it is localized but when has that ever lasted long?