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MIAMI (AP) — An official with the National Institutes of Health says the Zika virus could "hang around" the United States for a year or two. Dr. Anthony Fauci (FOW'-chee) told ABC's "This Week" that Gulf Coast states are most vulnerable to the spread of the disease. Mosquito-borne Zika cases have been found in two neighborhoods of Miami-Dade County. They are the first areas on the U.S. mainland where health officials determined mosquitoes were transmitting Zika.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana officials are setting up a temporary bus system to help people in and around Baton Rouge whose vehicles were damaged by flooding. The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness says two disaster recovery centers also have opened in areas that flooded in south Louisiana, and more will open as buildings are found with enough parking and proper access for people with disabilities. More than 3,000 people are in shelters.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — Nearly all 82,000 people who were ordered to leave their homes because of a wildfire east of Los Angeles are now allowed to return. The fire that burned 58 square miles has destroyed more than 100 homes and 200-plus other buildings. It's now 83 percent contained. Meanwhile, a blaze that has burned 133 square miles near California's scene Big Sur is 60 percent contained. Officials don't expect it will be fully contained until the end of September.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two men suspected of starting a wildfire last year that scorched 40 square miles of Oregon forestland could soon get a bill for at least $37 million. The Oregon Department of Forestry says they're still finalizing firefighting costs for the 2015 Stouts Creek fire that burned east of Canyonville. The agency will send a bill once that's done.
HILO, Hawaii (AP) — Six scientists are close to wrapping up a year of near isolation in a Mars simulation on a Hawaii mountain. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald says the simulation that ends Aug. 28 is the second-longest of its kind, after a mission that lasted 520 days in Russia. The scientists are housed in a dome on Mauna Loa and can go outside only in spacesuits. They manage limited resources while conducting research. Communication is delayed the 20 minutes, the length it would take to relay messages from Mars.
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