Spain
registers first case in Europe of baby born with Zika-related defect
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[July 26, 2016]
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain has
recorded the first case in Europe of a baby born with the microcephaly
birth defect associated with the Zika virus, Spanish health authorities
said on Monday.
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Though dozens of people in Europe are known to have contracted Zika,
usually after spending time in affected countries such as Brazil, it
is the first European birth of a baby with the defect by a mother
carrying the virus.
The woman had been diagnosed with the virus in May and had decided
to keep the baby, a spokeswoman for the regional health authorities
of Catalonia, where the baby was born, told Reuters.
The mosquito-borne Zika virus has been linked to hundreds of cases
of microcephaly. Spain had 190 known cases of Zika infections at the
latest count, 189 of which resulted from traveling overseas and one
was sexually transmitted.
The woman, who was 20 weeks into her pregnancy when she was
diagnosed, had been infected with the virus and with dengue during a
trip to Latin America.
Doctors from the Vall d'Hebron hospital in Barcelona said the boy's
condition was "stable".
"He is being monitored but he doesn't need any respiratory
assistance," said Felix Castillo, head of the hospital's neonatal
care unit, told journalists.
(Reporting by Carlos Ruano; writing by Julien Toyer; editing by Mark
Heinrich)
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