--- description: Three pregnant women in Florida have contracted the Zika virus when traveling outside of the state, bringing the state total to 32 people. title: 3 Pregnant Women Test Positive for Zika Virus in Florida image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1278f6cdd9508ee/69887aae8e06011dd64644ce/gettyimages-513671975.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Florida](/tag/florida/) ## Florida Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 3 Pregnant Women Test Positive for Zika Virus in Florida by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2016 10:15 PM CUT  Dengue fever, Chikungunya virus and Zika virus are spread by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. Dengue fever, Chikungunya virus and Zika virus are spread by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito.Universal History Archive/UIG/Getty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2016 10:15 PM CUT Three pregnant women in Florida [have contracted the Zika virus](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article62233832.html "undefined") when traveling outside of the state, bringing Florida’s total of confirmed cases to 32. The Florida Department of Health confirmed the new cases Wednesday, but declined to identify where the women live or where they were traveling “out of respect of the privacy of these women,” the Miami _Herald_ reports. Health officials [have already declared a public health emergency in the state](http://time.com/4206888/zika-virus-health-emergency-florida-rick-scott/ "undefined") for the 11 counties with confirmed cases of Zika, according to the _Herald_. All 32 reported cases of [Zika virus](http://time.com/4229778/cdc-zika-virus-guillain-barre-syndrome/ "undefined") in Florida were acquired outside of the state. Pregnant women are particularly affected by Zika virus, which has spread through South America, as it can cause microcephaly, a condition where a newborn’s head is smaller than normal. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4236341/zika-virus-pregnant-florida/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4236341/zika-virus-pregnant-florida/"},"headline":"3 Pregnant Women Test Positive for Zika Virus in Florida","datePublished":"2016-02-24T22:15:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:21:19.339Z","description":"The state now has 32 confirmed cases","url":"https://time.com/4236341/zika-virus-pregnant-florida/","keywords":["Florida","Disease","Zika virus"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1278f6cdd9508ee/69887aae8e06011dd64644ce/gettyimages-513671975.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1278f6cdd9508ee/69887aae8e06011dd64644ce/gettyimages-513671975.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dengue fever, Chikungunya virus and Zika virus.","caption":"Dengue fever, Chikungunya virus and Zika virus.","creditText":"Universal History Archive/UIG/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/florida/","name":"Florida"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4236341/zika-virus-pregnant-florida/","name":"3 Pregnant Women Test Positive for Zika Virus in Florida"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"CDC Confirms Link Between Zika Virus And Birth Defects","description":"Zika can infect embryonic cells that help form the brain, a lab study found","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nYBEKNnO/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-18T15:12:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nYBEKNnO.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4236341/zika-virus-pregnant-florida/","duration":"PT1M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4236341/zika-virus-pregnant-florida/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```