Traces of Zika virus have been found in the bodily fluids and tissue of mothers and babies affected by microcephaly.
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Several new studies have corroborated what the medical community has feared – but expected – for some time.
While bolstering the connection between Zika virus and brain defects in babies, one of the researchers cautioned that it doesn’t establish a conclusive link.
In a series of lab experiments using stem cells, scientists showed the Zika virus infected cells that are critical for brain development, causing them to die or to stop functioning normally.
While this study does not prove the direct link between Zika and microcephaly, it pinpoints where the virus may be doing the most damage, researchers said.
The study said blood and urine tests found 72 of the 88 women had the Zika virus.
There are no known cases where the mosquitoes have transmitted the Zika virus in California. Babies with microcephaly often have smaller head sizes and brain that might not have developed properly.
“So a very important question that emerges from our work is whether the Zika virus specifically targets the neural progenitor mostly responsible for generating the cortex”.
Colombia has reported the largest number of cases in Latin America after Brazil, where the outbreak was first detected previous year and where 1.5 million Zika cases have been reported.
The preliminary results are based off of the first 42 Zika infected women who agreed to ultrasounds.
“This virus has really exploded, transmitting throughout Central America, South America, and its arrival in the Americas, and the link to the congenital malformations has really caused concern that we’re seeing today”, said Dr. Lisa Maragakis with Johns Hopkins Infection Prevention.
The virus has infected people across 282 Colombian municipalities, 67 percent of them women.
San Francisco health officials said the transmission of the disease is not occurring in the US, but USA health officials are warning people, especially pregnant women, to consider delaying travel plans to countries where transmission is occurring. No Zika cases have been reported in Kansas, according to the CDC.
The Zika virus is capable of quickly infecting and harming developing fetal brain cells, scientists said on Friday in a study that provides insight into how the virus might cause the birth defect microcephaly in fetuses exposed in the womb.
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“We also saw problems in the last trimester, which was surprising to us”, added Nielsen, noting two cases of fetal death very late in pregnancies in which there was no sign of brain malformation in earlier ultrasound tests.
