Health officials confirmed Florida’s first baby born with a Zika-related birth defect on Tuesday as the number of people infected with the virus this year climbed to 227 cases statewide.  TALLAHASSEE – A woman infected with the Zika virus has given birth to a baby with microcephaly, a condition causing abnormally small heads and developmental defects, for the first time in Florida, Gov. The mother, a citizen of Haiti, acquired the disease outside of the United States and traveled to Florida to deliver her baby, the health department said. SUBSCRIBE TODAY 
 
 Florida is home to at least 40 pregnant women who have contracted the virus this year while traveling outside the country, according to the health department. Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, 265 pregnant women were confirmed to have had Zika as of June 16. Scott’s announcement comes has he continues to push for more federal funding and coordination to combat Zika’s spread. Following this news, I have requested the CDC to immediately host a call with Florida health care professionals to discuss the neurological impacts of Zika and how this virus impacts new and expecting moms,” Scott stated. He signed an executive order last week freeing up $26.2 million in state funding to pay for mosquito control training and equipment, Zika preparedness kits and increased lab capacity. State health officials confirmed four new Zika infections on Tuesday, including two each in Miami-Dade and Osceola counties. Florida has had more than 200 Zika cases since the beginning of the year – the most of any other state - and 16 are still showing symptoms. Florida does not release the names or locations of pregnant women who are infected with Zika. This year, researchers reported a potential causal link between microcephaly and the Zika virus, which is primarily transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito but also can be transmitted by blood transfusions and by men to the sexual partners.
– A third baby—and the first in Florida—with Zika-related microcephaly has been born in the US, ABC News reports. Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced the birth Tuesday. According to the Miami Herald, the baby was born to a woman from Haiti who contracted Zika while outside the US. She traveled to Florida to give birth. “It is heartbreaking to learn that a baby has been born with Zika-related microcephaly in our state, and my thoughts and prayers are with the mother and child," the Orlando Sentinel quotes Scott as saying. Microcephaly causes babies to have unusually small heads and leads to problems with brain development. Babies with Zika-related microcephaly have also been born in New Jersey and Hawaii. Both of the mothers contracted Zika while outside the US. In fact, there are still no known cases of mosquitoes spreading the virus in the US. With more than 200 reported cases, Florida has more Zika infections than any other state. Forty of those cases involve pregnant women. Scott has declared a public health emergency and made $26.2 million in state money available to fight Zika. (A tweeted photo from the CDC speaks volumes about the problem.)