Hawaii Baby With Brain Damage Is First U.S. Case Tied to Zika Virus
The first case of brain damage linked to the Zika virus within the United States was reported on Friday in Hawaii.
The Hawaii State Department of Health said that a baby born in an Oahu hospital with microcephaly
— an unusually small head and brain — had been infected with the Zika
virus, which is believed to have caused the same damage in thousands of
babies in Brazil in recent months. The presence of the virus was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The child’s mother had lived in Brazil in May last year and probably was infected by a mosquito then, early in her pregnancy, the health department said. The virus presumably reached the embryo and damaged its developing brain.
“We
are saddened by the events that have affected this mother and her
newborn,” Dr. Sarah Park, Hawaii’s state epidemiologist, said in a
statement. “This case further emphasizes the importance of the C.D.C.
travel recommendations released today.”
Also
on Friday, the C.D.C. recommended that pregnant women consider
postponing travel to any countries or regions with active Zika virus
transmission.
Those
currently include 14 Latin American and Caribbean countries and
territories: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala,
Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname,
Venezuela and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The list of countries
with transmission has been steadily growing; on Saturday, Barbados
reported its first cases.
Women
considering becoming pregnant were advised to consult doctors before
going to Zika-infested areas, and all travelers headed to such areas
were urged to take vigorous measures to avoid mosquito bites.
There
have been no confirmed cases of Zika virus transmission within Hawaii,
Dr. Park said. Six Hawaii residents are known to have had the virus
since 2014, but all picked it up through travel elsewhere.
Nevertheless, Hawaii is undergoing an outbreak of dengue fever, and the same mosquitoes that transmit it also can transmit Zika.
A
C.D.C. epidemiologist recently predicted that Zika would follow the
same pattern that dengue has, with local transmission during hot weather
in tropical parts of the country, including Florida, the Gulf Coast and
Hawaii.
Scientists do not yet know how the Zika virus damages fetal brains. It is related to the dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses, which normally do not cause such damage; it is not closely related to rubella or cytomegalovirus, which are known to cause microcephaly.
The
virus was first discovered in monkeys in the Zika Forest in Uganda in
1947. It is widespread in Africa and Southeast Asia but had never been
seen as a major threat because the disease it causes is usually mild.
About 80 percent of people who get the virus show no symptoms; those who
do usually get a fever, rash and red eyes, but they rarely require hospitalization.
In
2007, the Asian strain of the virus was detected moving across the
South Pacific; it caused a large outbreak on Yap Island that year. By
late 2014, it had reached Easter Island, off the coast of Chile.
The
connection to microcephaly was not made until late last year in Brazil.
The virus first appeared in the country in May, and epidemiologists
estimate that more than 1.5 million Brazilians have been infected.
Transmission was most intense in the tropical northeast.
In October, doctors in Pernambuco State noticed a surge in cases of microcephaly. Normally, about 150 cases of the birth defect are reported in Brazil each year. Since October, more than 3,500 have been reported there.
It
is also not known whether the virus alone causes microcephaly or if it
happens only if the mother has a previous infection, such as with dengue
virus.
Dengue
is unusual in that a first infection is rarely life-threatening, but a
subsequent infection with a different strain can trigger dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal.
Hawaii
is conducting a “Fight the Bite” campaign intended to stop its dengue
outbreak. Residents have been urged to get rid of all standing water on
their properties, to apply mosquito repellents and to try to avoid being
bitten.
