The first case of microcephaly, a birth defect in which a baby's head is significantly smaller than expected, often due to abnormal brain development, caused by Zika has come to Florida, the Florida Department of Health announced Tuesday.
According to a press release, the mother of the infant had a travel-related case of Zika which she contracted while in Haiti.
Following the confirmation of the case, Gov. Rick Scott called for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to host a call with Florida medical professionals to discuss how Zika impacts the neurological system and what precautions new and expecting mothers should take against the virus.
Scott called the news “heartbreaking” and said his thoughts and prayers were with the mother and child.
There are currently 200 confirmed cases of the Zika virus in Florida, but getting funding to combat the virus has proven difficult for Florida officials. The Zika virus is not particularly dangerous to the general population, the virus can cause severe birth defects if a pregnant woman is infected.
Gov. Scott warned the CDC about the possible ramifications of Zika moving forward since the Olympics are just a few weeks away.
The virus has infiltrated Brazil, which will host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Recent estimates found over 1.5 million people had been infected with Zika in Brazil.
“The Olympics will begin in less than 40 days and millions of Americans will travel through our state to and from Brazil, a country where the Zika virus is rapidly spreading, and we must be prepared,” said Scott.
Scott has requested financial assistance to prepare Florida for the Zika virus, recently using his executive authority to allocate over $26 million in state funds to prepare for Zika. That money will be released as needed, according to a release from Scott’s office this week. Scott gave state Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip the authority to spend the money.
The governor still hasn’t given up on getting more money from the federal government to help fight off the virus, though. Scott has said several times he believes congressmen in Washington have been stalling for far too long for a solution to the virus.
“While these funds will be incredibly useful in our fight against the Zika virus, Washington must also recognize that Zika is not just a Florida issue, but a national emergency,” Scott said in a statement. “Florida has continued to step-up and fund issues when the federal government has failed to show up and Washington has to stop playing politics with the health, safety and wellbeing of Florida’s families.”
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate blocked a $1.1 billion dollar bill, with Republicans pushing the bill, calling for emergency funding for a disease which could sweep Southern states in the summer months.
“We have a public health crisis descending on our country,” Majority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell said after the vote. “Pregnant women all across America are looking at this with dismay, utter dismay, as we sit here in a partisan gridlock manufactured by the other side.”
Democrats said Republicans were trying to pass the bill to win political points and said GOP lawmakers were going to cut funding from other programs to fund the Zika preparedness efforts.
For Gov. Scott, the time to act is now.
“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,” said Scott.
Reach Allison Nielsen at allison@sunshinestatenews.com and follow her on Twitter @AllisonNielsen.
