First Baby with Zika-Related Microcephaly Born in Florida

The Florida Department of Health confirms the first Zika-related microcephaly birth in Florida.

The birth mother is a Haitian national who came to Florida to give birth. She was infected with the Zika virus in Haiti.

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Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Surgeon General Celeste Philip participated in a Zika roundtable discussion in Palm Beach County Tuesday morning to discuss the issue.

“I’ve asked the CDC to do another phone call with all of our health care providers so they can continue to educate the public,” Scott said. “You heard just in our conversation here: the most important thing is all of us are responsible. We’ve got to get rid of the standing water so we don’t have these mosquitoes breed in our yard or anywhere we are. If we can stop the mosquitoes, we can make sure that we don’t have an expansion of more Zika cases in our state.”

There have previously been two other Zika-related microcephaly births in the United States, one in Hawaii and one in New Jersey, according to a DOH representative.

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Microcephaly is a rare neurological condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development.

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Babies born with the defect often have a range of problems, including developmental delay, intellectual disability, problems with movement and balance, hearing loss and vision problems.

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