Baby born in Hawaii with Zika virus

A baby born with brain damage at a hospital in Oahu, Hawaii, has been confirmed to have been infected by the Zika virus, that state’s department of health said, in what appears to be the first USA case of the mosquito-borne virus.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Protection advised USA travellers to take protect themselves against mosquito bites if they visit places in Latin America or the Caribbean where Zika has been spreading. The CDC in particular cautioned pregnant women not to travel to those areas as Zika has been linked to serious birth defects. The virus presumably reached the embryo and damaged its developing brain.

In the Hawaii case, a doctor recognized the possibility of a Zika infection in the newborn baby with microcephaly and alerted state officials, the Hawaii State Department of Health department said in a written statement.

The Brazilian Health ministry says it’s developed new testing kits to rapidly identify the presence of three viruses – Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya – all carried by the same mosquito.

Health authorities said the child’s mother had lived in Brazil until May 2015.

On Friday, The Minister of Health, Marcelo Castro, visited the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, the country’s main producer of biopharmaceuticals, where he discussed worldwide partnerships for the development of a vaccine against the Zika virus in an attempt to get the outbreak and possible complications under control.

Reportedly, the woman and her new-born baby are not infectious, themselves, and can not spread the Zika virus to others.

Most people infected with Zika virus don’t become ill.

The level two travel alert applies to Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

The Zika virus, which is transmitted by mosquitos, can not spread between humans.

Microcephaly is an often severe birth defect that can kill an unborn child or cause disabilities throughout life. It’s a cousin of dengue virus but only causes symptoms in about one in four or one in five people.

The virus is usually a mild illness with fever, rash and joint pain.

But Hawaii’s Big Island is now battling the state’s largest outbreak of dengue fever, another mosquito-borne illness, in 50 years. The Aedes species of mosquitoes are common throughout southern states in the US like Florida and Texas.

Mr Castro also announced extra funds to speed up finding a vaccine for Zika.