Home Family Practice Florida Reports First Case of Zika-Linked Microcephaly

Florida Reports First Case of Zika-Linked Microcephaly

Mother, a citizen of Haiti, came to Florida to deliver her baby

WEDNESDAY, June 29, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Florida’s first case of a Zika-related birth defect has been reported by state officials.

The infant, born to a woman who was infected with the virus in Haiti, has microcephaly, NBC News reported. “The mother, a citizen of Haiti, came to Florida to deliver her baby,” according to a state health department statement. “The department is working with the family to connect the child to services through our Early Steps program.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking 265 women in the United States who were infected with Zika while pregnant. All the infections occurred during travel to other countries, NBC News reported.

There are another 216 pregnant women with Zika in territories such as Puerto Rico, where there are local epidemics of the virus. To date, four infants in the United States have been born with Zika-linked birth defects and another four pregnancies have been lost to miscarriage or aborted because of birth defects, according to the CDC.

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