Zika became a big concern in Florida in 2016. By Feb. 2, Florida already had 9 confirmed cases of Zika -- Miami-Dade (4), Hillsborough (2), Lee (2), and Santa Rosa (1).

  • Zika had big impact on Florida in 2016
  • Number of Zika cases rose to 600 is Sept. 
  • By Dec. 9 Florida was cleared of any active Zika transmission

Health officials said people become infected with the Zika fever through the bite of an infected mosquito, the same mosquitoes that can transmit dengue and chikungunya.

Symptoms of the virus include a fever, rash, joint pain, headaches, and muscle pain. However, the CDC said symptoms are normally mild and don't last longer than a week. They said people may not even know they are infected.

At the start of the Zika hype, people were only getting infected with Zika when they traveled to other countries.

The first sexually-transmitted case of Zika was confirmed in Texas on Feb. 2. The person who contracted the Zika virus through sexual contact got it from someone who had traveled out of the country.

The first case of Zika in Central Florida was confirmed on Feb. 5 in Osceola County. By Feb. 19, Florida had 26 cases of Zika -- Alachua (1), Brevard (1), Broward (4), Hillsborough (3), Lee (3), Miami-Dade (10), Orange (1), Osceola (1), Santa Rosa (1), St. Johns (1).

Florida's first sexually-transmitted Zika case was confirmed in Polk County on March 9. At this point, Florida had a total of 52 confirmed Zika cases -- four involving pregnant woman.

The Center for Disease Control raised a big concern about pregnant women contracting the virus. Zika has been linked to a birth disorder in newborns that result in babies born with small heads, causing severe developmental issues and sometimes death.

The CDC said people rarely die of Zika or even get sick enough to go to the hospital, however, on April 29, officials confirmed the United States' first Zika-related death in Puerto Rico. A 70-year-old man from San Juan was treated for symptoms of Zika, but then returned to the hospital with signs of the bleeding disorder.

By June 1, Florida had 124 travel-related Zika cases. By August 1, Florida had 14 cases of locally-transmitted Zika in a small area of Miami-Dade -- prompting the CDC to issue a travel notice for the Miami area.

Although Central Florida was not impacted by the travel warnings, theme parks and tourists were taking preventative measures to stop the spread of Zika.

Mosquito repellent wristbands were popular with tourists. Disney had its own pest management team responsible for spraying throughout the parks, and SeaWorld also operated a mosquito control program.

While Gov. Scott pushed for government funding to combat the virus, he also urged that tourists had nothing to fear in the Sunshine State.

Florida Health Officials continued to work to prevent an extreme outbreak of Zika. Since early June they tested more than 200 people in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.

By the end of August, Florida had 500 cases of Zika, 18 of those reported in Seminole County. By that point, Seminole amped up their efforts to combat the virus.

Workers had treated 100,000 acres of the county with pesticides. Employees went door-to-door to educate people about controlling the mosquito population. Workers also inspected homes for standing water and removed it.

In Sept. Florida finally received some help from Congress when they approved $1.1 billion funding package to fight the virus.

Nearly 33 counties in Florida received money from the state. Orange County was given a little more than $100,000. Osceola County received about $80,000.

By Sept. 29 the CDC confirmed more than 600 cases of Zika in the state of Florida.

While the Florida Health Department and county officials continued their efforts to combat the Zika virus, Miami-Dade started to see improvements in their tactics to fight disease carrying mosquitoes.

By Nov. 22 Gov. Scott announced that the Department of Health had not detected any local transmissions of the Zika virus in the north part of Miami Beach for more than 45 days.

And on Dec. 9, the Florida Department of Health cleared the Miami Beach area of any local Zika transmission -- also announcing that Florida no longer has any identified areas with active Zika transmission.