Baby born with Microcephaly thriving in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A baby, who was born with Microcephaly, the same rare disease linked to the Zika Virus, is thriving with her adopted family in Jacksonville.

Ansley Rice, 2, does not have the Zika virus, but is dealing with the exact same health issues babies worldwide are facing every day.

The Florida Department of Health confirmed Tuesday the first Zika-related case of Microcephaly in a child born in Florida whose mother had a travel-related case of Zika.

The mother, a citizen of Haiti, contracted the virus and came to Florida to deliver her baby.

Babies born with Microcephaly have unusually small heads due to failure of brain growth. There are a number of ways babies can contract the disease.

The World Health Organization predicts nearly 2,500 babies in Brazil will be born with the disease if the trend continues. Zika has put the rare disease in the spotlight. Katie Rice, Ansley's mother, has taken notice.

“Most articles that I read it just portrays it to be this gross thing and this huge abnormality—it’s not, they are still precious babies,” said Katie Rice.

Ansley is fed through a feeding tube. She has seizures often, muscle spasms and the brain development of a 3 to 5 month old. She is enrolled in about 6 different therapies to help her develop skills for day-to-day activities.

Doctors told Rice her daughter wouldn’t make it to her first birthday. She turned 2 in March.

“As we started going to the doctor, they told us she wouldn’t live to a year, then she got to a year, boom, past that. OK, then she wasn’t going to make it until 2. Here we are at 2,” said Rice.

The family found new doctors who are more optimistic and they continue to celebrate even the small victories.

“We learned not put any limits on her … not to set any deadlines any high goals. We just go day by day. What she gets -- fantastic. We call them inch-stones instead of milestones.”

Ansley's family documents her journey on Facebook. You can visit here: https://www.facebook.com/Ansleyisfancy/

Trending on ActionNewsJax.com: