Earlier this week federal health officials said there was enough evidence to conclude that Zika causes the birth defect microcephaly, which is characterized by an underdeveloped head and brain.
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Often, babies born with abnormally small heads suffer from underdeveloped brains and other serious complications including vision problems, though there’s some variability there.
A new report released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that scientists have found a clear link between the Zika virus and microcephaly as well as other infant brain defects.
CDC officials said they hoped the findings would also raise public awareness of the seriousness of the Zika threat.
The decision was based in part on a series of studies in Brazil, where thousands of babies were born previous year with birth defects, coinciding with a spike in Zika virus infections among the general public.
Health officials are still struggling to figure out the Zika virus and how to deal with it. Officials are spilt on if they should advise women in the regions to avoid getting pregnant.
The CDC has discouraged pregnant women from travelling to places where the Zika virus is spreading, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director at the CDC, has said the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the primary vector of Zika, resides in 30 states.
The mosquitoes that spread Zika are now estimated to be in 30 states. The case doesn’t change the CDC’s guidelines on preventing sexual transmission of Zika, report coauthor John Brooks of the agency’s division of HIV/AIDS prevention told STAT.
The conclusion should settle months of debate about the connection between the infection and these birth defects, called microcephaly, as well as other neurological abnormalities, the centre said on Wednesday. Now that Zika is officially understood to be a cause of microcephaly, researchers can now explore what other damage is being done.
Some people who are infected do not have any symptoms.
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Zika virus was first diagnosed in 1947 in Uganda, but symptoms have typically been mild, including rash, joint pain and fever. The work of the Inserm and confirm that this virus can be transmitted through sex.
