MIAMI — Florida has been the epicenter for Zika in the United States and is now poised to become a national hub for efforts to fight the virus.

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a $10 million grant to four Florida universities for research on how to keep the Zika virus from spreading. The grant will fund a collaboration between the University of Florida, the University of Miami, Florida International University and the University of South Florida to study Zika and other diseases.

Lead researcher Rhoel Dinglasan at the University of Florida said the state is a logical choice for the center, named the Southeast Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Disease, because the state is often the gateway for mosquito-borne disease outbreaks in the country.

“There’s so much movement within our state. That’s not just Floridians, there’s also movement from other places into our state,” he said. “Mosquitoes are well-traveled. They don’t need a passport.”

The recent Zika outbreak started in Latin America in 2015. The first locally spread cases in the continental United States were reported in a one-square mile area in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood in July. Shortly afterward, the CDC issued a travel advisory urging pregnant women to stay away from the area because the virus can cause birth defects. As Zika spread to other parts of Miami-Dade, including Miami Beach, efforts to study the disease sped up. New cases in South Florida have slowed considerably and the last Zika zone was lifted on Miami Beach earlier this month.

The $10 million CDC grant is part of close to $184 million in funding that the CDC announced Thursday would go toward efforts to protect Americans from the virus.