If there’s such a thing as a good time for a Zika outbreak, then Miami’shappened at the right time.

Federal and state health officials confirmed that mosquitosbreeding in a shopping district in Miami are spreading the Zikavirus. The disclosure came during Miami’s slow tourist season, abreak for the city that feeds off the winter tourist trade.

That’s about the only positive spin one could possibly put onthe discovery that mosquitos breeding in the U.S. are now spreadingZika, previously thought to have been borne only by mosquitos fromoutside the continental United States.

The Miami Herald reported that mosquitos infected people in a one-mile-squaresection of town north of the city’s downtown “on or after June 15,”Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director, Tom Frieden,told the Herald.

Zika poses a threat primarily to fetuses being carried bypregnant women, according to the CDC, since an infectedexpectant mom can transfer the disease to her child, resulting inpossible birth defects.

News of the presence of Zika-carrying U.S. mosquitos came on theheels of a Washington Post-ABC News poll in whichAmericans generally pooh-poohed the threat. Pollsters queried 1,001U.S. adults to take the temperature of Americans on Zika. Just athird of those who responded admitted to being either somewhat orvery worried about Zika.

The poll compares the latest results with polls taken in 2014 atthe height of the Ebola virus scare, and in 2009 when folks weresupposed to be worried about the swine flu. Swine flu polled thehighest percentage of those worried — 52 percent — with Ebola notfar behind at 43 percent.

People aren’t taking any action to protect themselves from aZika infection, the pollstates. While 27 percent say they are “taking steps to limitexposure” to the disease, 67 percent say they are taking thewait-and-see attitude. Those taking action are mainly counteringthe threat through the liberal use of bug spray, although 23percent say they were spending more time indoors and another 23percent say they are more alert in regards to any standingwater.

Not only is the Miami outbreak getting lots of coverage, but thesteps people believe they can take to stay safe might not be enoughin the event of a full-scale outbreak.

The CDC told the Miami Herald that officials already authorizedthe use of heavy doses of insecticides in the affected area ofMiami, but it didn’t seem to be working.

“It’s possible that the mosquitoes there are resistant to theinsecticide that’s been used,” Frieden told the newspaper. “It’spossible that there may be what we call cryptic breeding places. …This is a very difficult mosquito to control, particularly in acomplex urban environment.”

The CDC is treating Zika seriously. It has devoted multiplepages on its website to the disease and has prominently touted theFlorida outbreak on its homepage. It’s been issuing daily news updates onthe outbreak and, while it hasn’t gone so far as to recommendpeople avoid Miami, it has issued a notice to anyone traveling in theaffected sections of Miami to take precautions to avoid passing onthe disease.

This week also kicks off the 2016 summer Olympics, an event that hasseen some athletes forgoing the honor to represent their countriesdue to Zika fears. While regulatory agencies have claimed there islittle to zero reason to worry about spread of the disease, you canbet all eyes will be on Rio for more than just the competition andpride.