Why the Zika virus is causing alarm

The World Health Organization in January declared a public health emergency over thousands of Brazilian infants born with microcephaly – a severe birth defect that causes a shrunken skull and brain – in the wake of the virus outbreak past year.

Pregnant women who show signs of Zika virus infection should be followed with serial ultrasound to monitor for fetal growth and development.

It is the first possible link between congenital Zika and damage to tissues outside the central nervous system, meaning the bug might actually be much more deadly than believed.

The woman, 20, started out with a normal pregnancy that quickly changed during the 18th week.

But there’s also been rare reports of sexual transmission of Zika virus infection. The symptoms are similar to those of dengue or chikungunya, which are transmitted by the same type of mosquito.

At week 30 of the pregnancy, the baby showed a number of birth defects and labour was induced at 32 weeks.

Disease detectives should take a closer look at stillbirths in Zika-affected areas, concluded the team from Yale University and the Hospital Geral Roberto Santos in Salvador, Brazil.

In addition to a devastating loss of brain tissue, this fetus also had another abnormality – severe swelling and fluid build-up in other parts of the body – that by itself can be life-threatening, researchers reported Thursday.

First, the bad: We now have pregnant women in the USA who have tested positive for the Zika virus, and some are thought to have gotten the disease via sex. At least three conferences at major Puerto Rican hotels were recently canceled and one postponed because of concerns over the virus.

“Given the recent spread of the virus, systematic investigation of spontaneous abortions and stillbirths may be warranted to evaluate the risk”, Ko and his colleagues write in the journal Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases.

The Zika virus is transmitted to people who are bitten by an infected Aedes species mosquito.

Zika virus has been spreading rapidly throughout the Americas and infected millions. For most people, it is a relatively mild virus, causing rashes, red eyes and joint pain, or in many people, no symptoms at all.

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.

The Zika virus has arrived in Tarrant County. “The rest can go provided they protect themselves”, said Prof Godfrey Lule of the Department of Medicine.