First brain-damaged baby in US
The Hawaii State Department of Health says a baby born with an unusually small head and brain in an Oahu hospital had been infected with the Zika virus. The presence of the virus was confirmed by the CDC. The child’s mother was probably infected early in her pregnancy by a mosquito when she lived in Brazil in May in 2015. The virus presumably reached the embryo and damaged its developing brain. Hawaii’s state epidemiologist:
We are saddened by the events that have affected this mother and her newborn. This case further emphasizes the importance of the C.D.C. travel recommendations released today.