Florida Confirms First Zika Related Birth

June 29, 2016

Florida has its first confirmed case of an infant born with Zika-related microcephaly, a birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development.

The Florida Department of Health announced Tuesday that the mother had contracted the mosquito-borne virus while in Haiti. The mother traveled to Florida to give birth, officials said.

Gov. Rick Scott, who met with health officials in Palm Beach County on Tuesday, used the news of the state’s first Zika-related birth to press the federal government for more support. Scott planned to attend a second roundtable discussion regarding Zika at the Duval County Department of Health in Jacksonville Tuesday afternoon.

“Now that a baby has been born in our state with adverse impacts from Zika, it is clear that every available resource is needed to prevent local transmissions in our state,” Scott said in a press release. According to state health officials, babies with microcephaly often have a range of problems including developmental delay, intellectual disability, problems with movement and balance, hearing loss and vision problems.

Scott on Tuesday also asked the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to host a conference call with Florida health care professionals to discuss the neurological impacts of Zika and how the virus impacts new and expecting moms.

Last week, Scott issued an executive order to pump $26.2 million into the fight against the Zika virus. Scott directed state Surgeon General Celeste Philip to oversee distribution of the money to county health departments, local mosquito districts and laboratories for training, mosquito surveillance, and the purchase of Zika prevention kits from the CDC. Scott asked President Barack Obama on June 1 to use his presidential authority to release federal funds to fight Zika.

The president sought $1.9 billion in Zika-related funding from Congress, but the House and Senate have been divided on how much to allocate to combat the disease. The House, which initially offered $622 million, on Thursday approved a measure matching the Senate’s $1.1 billion funding proposal.

But Democrats and the White House appeared to balk at the House plan, which included provisions unrelated to fighting Zika.

by The News Service of Florida


Comments

6 Responses to “Florida Confirms First Zika Related Birth”

  1. Sue on June 30th, 2016 9:28 pm

    This really is upsetting to me whats happening. There are babies being born now in this country with severe birth defects including small brain and head size because of Zika. The President and our Governor both have requested that congress issue the funds to fight this virus before it spreads in this country like in others. Congress voted this down the first time in February and here we are almost six months down the road and they are still fighting over it. Some of these babies might have been saved if they delayed finding a cure in all this time. Must be there 11% approval rating. Too much money and lobbying in congress to help us and these babies that need it the most.

  2. David Huie Green on June 29th, 2016 10:41 pm

    REGARDING:
    “better let the Lord handle this sad mess.”

    Humans shouldn’t seek a cure?

    I hope that wasn’t the idea

    David for progress

  3. anne on June 29th, 2016 4:12 pm

    We could go on about this baby for days, better let the Lord handle this sad mess.

  4. David Huie Green on June 29th, 2016 1:53 pm

    REGARDING:
    “Curious…was the woman a Haiti citizen? ”

    Yes, she is.
    She came here in hopes of giving her child a better chance of survival.
    Instead, it is basically brainless.
    Very sad every time.

    David for a cure for zika

  5. Sue on June 29th, 2016 11:04 am

    I feel so bad for these little ones, I hear whats happening in South American countries and it continues to get worse. I hope the funds are made available by our congress to find a cure soon. I really fear abortions may be on the rise if congress does not get its act together on this virus. They really are taking there time on this, the funds were requested at least month or so ago and they still didn’t want to pay for all of it.

  6. Jim on June 29th, 2016 8:57 am

    Curious…was the woman a Haiti citizen? The story says she contracted the Zika virus while in Haiti and traveled to Florida to give birth. If she’s a U.S. citizen, then I’m glad she made it. If not, is there a screening in place for these sorts of things for non-citizens? There are other ways that Zika can be transmitted human-to-human and the mosquito isn’t always the culprit. Aside from the whole anchor baby thing, we need to protect our own citizens as much as possible.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News