News Digest

First baby believed born in United States with Zika-related defect

A baby suffering from a birth defect caused by the Zika virus was born on Tuesday in New Jersey to a woman visiting from Honduras who is infected with virus after she was bitten by a mosquito early on in her pregnancy, it has been reported. The baby girl is suffering from severe microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems, after she was delivered through Caeserean section at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey, the news website NorthJersey.com reported. U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly.

When I saw her today, I was pretty much convinced this was a Zika-affected baby.

Dr Abdulla Al-Kahan

The unidentified 31-year-old mother was staying with relatives after she arrived in the United States more than a month ago from Honduras, where she was bitten by a mosquito. Doctors believe she was infected during the second trimester of her pregnancy. She experienced a fever and rash, both symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease, which is known to cause the devastating birth defect microcephaly and other neurological disorders. Zika is carried by mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans.