BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts is getting more than $1 million from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fight the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

The state's grant is just a portion of the $60 million the CDC is awarding to states, cities, and territories to protect people from adverse health effects, including serious birth defects.

The funding will support activities to protect the health of the public, especially pregnant women, through epidemiologic surveillance and investigation, strengthening laboratory capacity, and improving mosquito control and monitoring.

It will also support participation in a program to monitor pregnant women with Zika and their infants.

Zika virus spreads to people primarily through the bite of two species mosquito not normally found in Massachusetts. Zika infection can also be spread through sexual contact.