Jim Rosica
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m. with the most recent Zika cases in the state.
Gov. Rick Scott is heading to the nation’s capital to “meet with Congressional leaders on Zika preparedness,” his office announced.
His daily schedule shows him departing the Enterprise Florida board meeting in Naples, his hometown, and departing for Washington, D.C. later on Wednesday.
He is then scheduled to meet with seven of Florida’s members of Congress and Sen. Marco Rubio.
Wednesday’s “Daily Zika Update” from the Florida Department of Health shows three new travel-related cases, two in Volusia County and one in Orange County. That brings the total reported cases to 112.
Most adults can weather the symptoms of a Zika infection: Mild fever, skin rash and conjunctivitis, or “pinkeye.”
But pregnant women are most at risk. According to the World Health Organization, Zika may cause their children to be born with microcephaly, a rare neurological condition resulting in a smaller-than-normal head and underdeveloped brain.
After the EFI meeting, Scott told FloridaPolitics.com he has been talking with people across the state about their concerns over the spread of the Zika virus. He hopes to convey those concerns to congressional leaders during his visit this week.
“Everybody wants to make sure we’re helpful to our mosquito boards,” the governor said. “Everyone wants to make sure that we have the right testing, and we’ve tested about 1,000 people so far. But with the weather — the rain, the heat — and people going to the Olympics, we’ve just got to get ready.”
Scott will meet with Congressmen Mario Diaz Balart, Carlos Curbelos and Gus Bilirakis at 2:30 p.m., the schedule shows.
At 3:10 p.m., he’ll sit down with Congressmen Ander Crenshaw and Tom Rooney.
Scott meets with Congressmen Curt Clawson and David Jolly at 4:15 p.m.
Finally, he meets with Rubio at 5 p.m., then will hold a press conference at 5:30 in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building.
Later, he plans to attend a Council of 100 reception at 6:45 p.m.
Southwest Florida correspondent Jenna Buzzacco-Forester contributed to this report.
