A newborn baby from Hawaii is believed to have acquired prenatal brain damage following the mother's Zika virus infection.
Recently, news broke about the Brazilian virus called Zika finally making its way to Hawaii. A baby was reportedly diagnosed with microcephaly, a rare case in which the newborn's brain and head is not fully developed resulting to permanent brain damage. Microcephaly usually occurs during the early stages of pregnancy and the Hawaii State Department of Health has since presumed that the Zika virus must have infected the mother during her stay in Brazil.
Dr. Sarah Park, Hawaii's state epidemiologist, gave out a statement saying:
"We are saddened by the events that have affected this mother and her newborn. This case further emphasizes the importance of the CDC. travel recommendations released today"
The virus was believed to be first discovered in monkeys almost seven decades ago in 1947 in a forest called Zika in Uganda. It instantly became a wide spread disease in Africa however Zika didn't pose any immediate threats as the disease is not fatal.
Because the Zika virus has a different effect on pregnant women, pregnant women are advised to avoid situations that might allow for infection because even a mild disease can have a great impact on the baby.
CDC spoke person Tom Skinner stated that Hawaii has yet to consider the Zika virus as an epidemic. Skinner also stated that the Zika virus is not circulating in the islands but they are not taking any chances
"There's no indication at this point that there's any Zika virus circulating in Hawaii. But I think it's important for us to understand that there are going to be imported cases of Zika to the United States and we won't be surprised if we start to see some local transmission of the virus" quipped Skinner.
