Brazilian
health authorities are sounding the alarm about
a mosquito-borne virus that they believe may be the cause of thousands of
infants being born with damaged brains.
The pathogen, known as Zika and first discovered in forest
monkeys in Africa over 70 years ago, is the new West Nile -- a virus that
causes mild symptoms in most but can lead to serious neurological complications
or even death in others.
‘…..complicated effects of climate change’
Brazil's health ministry said on Nov. 28 that it had found
the Zika virus in a baby with microcephaly — a rare condition in which infants
are born with shrunken skulls — during an autopsy after the child died. The
virus was also found in the amniotic fluid of two mothers whose babies had the
condition.
Read The Washington
Post story - “Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage, possibly due to mosquito-borne virus.”
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