CDC To Host Zika Action Plan Summit

The U.S. government is preparing for what public health officials believe is an eventuality: an outbreak of the Zika virus in the continental U.S.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will bring together state and local officials and non-government organizations to coordinate a U.S. response to Zika.

So far there have been 273 travel-related cases of the mosquito-borne virus within the 50 states, but no cases of local transmission. There have been local transmissions in Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

"We are literally learning more about Zika every day," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, told Here & Now's Meghna Chakrabarti. "But there’s still so much more to do – it’s quite difficult. Already we’ve got hundreds of cases in Puerto Rico, hundreds of returning travelers coming back to dozens of states throughout the U.S., and mosquito season hasn’t even started in full force yet."