The Zika virus can only be transmitted by two species of mosquitoes in the U.S., but these are widespread in the southern half of the country and have been found north as far as southern Minnesota and New Hampshire. These two mosquitoes, both in the genus Aedes, only fly short distances and generally stay within a 300-foot range.
A person commonly becomes infected by traveling to a place where Zika-infected mosquitoes bite them. When they come to the U.S. and are bitten by one of our two species of mosquitoes that can transmit the disease, they pass the virus on to the mosquitoes, which then start infecting anyone they bite in their local area.
