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 The Ministry of Health said the number suspected cases of
microcephaly, a neurological disorder in which infants are born with
smaller craniums and brains, increased to 3,893 by January 16 from
3,530 cases 10 days earlier.
The number of reported deaths of deformed babies rose to 49,
ministry officials said at a news conference.
So far, health authorities have only confirmed six cases of
microcephaly where the infant was infected with the mosquito-born
Zika virus. The surge of cases since the new virus was first
detected last year in Brazil led the ministry to link it to the
fetal deformations and warn pregnant women to use insect repellent
to avoid mosquito bites.
On Tuesday, Brazilian researchers took another step toward proving
Zika causes microcephaly. The Fiocruz biomedical center in Curitiba
announced it had found Zika in the placenta of a woman who had a
miscarriage, proving the virus can reach the fetus. Until now,
researchers had only found Zika in the amniotic fluid of two
pregnant women.
"This is a significant advance, but we still cannot scientifically
state that Zika is the cause of microcephaly," said Jean Peron, an
immunology expert who is experimenting on pregnant mice at the
University of Sao Paulo's Institute of Biomedical Sciences.
The Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which
is also known to carry the dengue, yellow fever and Chikungunya
viruses. Health experts are unsure why the virus detected in Africa
in 1947 but unknown in the Americas until last year is spreading so
rapidly in Brazil and neighboring countries.
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel
advisory last week warning pregnant women to avoid 14 countries and
territories in the Caribbean and Latin America affected by the
virus.
Last week, U.S. health authorities confirmed the birth of a baby
with microcephaly in Hawaii to a mother who had been infected with
the Zika virus while visiting Brazil last year.
In Colombia, which has the second highest Zika infection rate after
Brazil, the government is advising women to delay becoming pregnant
for six to eight months to avoid the risk.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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