The new cases are in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta.
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At that point she hadn’t reported symptoms associated with Zika – rash, fever or body aches – before or during the early stages of her pregnancy.
A health worker fumigates a house as part of the preventive measures against the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases in Veracruz on the outskirts of Panama City February 25, 2016.
A team led by Manoel Sarno of Hospital Geral Roberto Santos in Bahia, Brazil, now reports the case of a 20-year-old pregnant woman whose stillborn fetus had not only microcephaly, but swollen pockets of fluid in the abdomen.
Officials with the Belmont County Health Department were notified Thursday morning a woman in county tested positive for the Zika Virus.
A number of other cases of the virus have been reported in Canada.
“In light of available evidence, the benefits of breastfeeding for the infant and mother outweigh any potential risk of Zika virus transmission through breast milk”, the World Health Organization said. That changed abruptly during the course of the 18th week of pregnancy, when an ultrasound examination discovered that the fetus’ weight was well below where it should have been at that point.
Secretary of Health Dr. John Armstrong announced the cases Wednesday in his daily Zika update.
But by the 30th week of pregnancy, the fetus showed a range of birth defects. “It’s important for the public to understand that the Aedes mosquito that transmits the Zika virus is not found in ME, and that your neighbor who has come home from a trip to South America can not transmit the virus to you”.
This was the first time Tache heard of Zika potentially causing such extensive damage to a fetus, but she said she is not surprised by the report. When researchers examined its tissues, they found genetic material from the Zika virus in its brain, spinal fluid, and amniotic fluid (which nourishes the fetus), but not in the heart, lung, liver, eyes, or placenta.
Ko and colleagues said the case provides evidence that, in addition to microcephaly – a condition marked by an abnormally small head in newborns and widely linked to the Zika outbreak in Brazil – congenital Zika infection may also be linked to hydrops fetalis (abnormal accumulation of fluid in fetal compartments), hydranencephaly (almost complete loss of brain tissue), and fetal demise (stillbirth).
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Zika’s impact on fetal development tracks closely to cytomegalovirus (CMV), another fetal infection that can cause a wide array of birth defects and health problems, Tache said.
