USA health officials have confirmed that the Zika virus causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and severe brain defects, confirming the worst fears of many pregnant women in the U.S. and Latin America. For example, some research showed that babies who were born with microcephaly and other brain problems were strongly suspected, or were confirmed to have been infected, with Zika virus at the time of their birth, the researchers wrote.
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CDC officials say that they are waiting for the outcome of the studies being conducted in Brazil and elsewhere since the syndrome could be triggered by other infections also. “The CDC has concluded that Zika does cause microcephaly”.
Mr Frieden said the CDC is now launching more studies to find out if microcephaly is just the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of brain damage and other development problems.
The US has recorded the first case of transmission of the Zika virus through anal sex.
CDC said the latest findings affirm its early guidance to pregnant women and their partners to take steps to avoid Zika infection and to health care professionals who are talking to patients every day.
“Based on what we know now, the mosquitoes that are in Vermont are not likely to transmit Zika virus”, said Patsy Kelso, PhD, state epidemiologist for infectious disease.
At least five previously reported Zika cases in the US had been sexually transmitted, the CDC states, but all of them had been transmitted between a male and a female. Never before have researchers seen a link from a single bite from a mosquito leading to such a devastating birth defect.
Colombia is confirming the first two cases of a rare birth defect associated with the spread of Zika.
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The couple had been monogamous for more than 10 years, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Mosquitoes that spread Zika are aggressive daytime biters. Travelers to areas with cases of Zika virus infection are at risk of being infected with the Zika virus. After a week, his partner then developed the same symptoms, which were later confirmed by lab reports to be from the Zika virus. Health officials declined to say where the person lives.
