Brazil links mosquito-borne Zika virus to microcephaly birth defect

The dengue-like Zika virus has been linked for the first time to cases of babies being born with small heads, or microcephaly, Brazil's government said.

It said scientists studying a surge of such cases in northeastern Brazil found the presence of the virus in the blood of a baby born with birth defects in Ceara state. The girl died.

“This is an unprecedented situation in the global scientific community,” Brazil’s Health Ministry said in a statement released Saturday.

Researchers with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention are coming soon at the request of Brazil's government to study the link between the rare neurological condition and Zika.

Brazilian health officials believe pregnant women are more vulnerable of developing foetuses with microcephaly if they are infected with Zika in their first trimester. So far in 2015, the ministry has reported 739 cases of babies born with microcephaly in nine states that have been hit hard by Zika infections, while last year the same region reported only 45.

“Research on the subject should continue to clarify issues such as how it is transmitted, what it does to the body, how the fetus gets infected and the time of greatest vulnerability for pregnant women,” the ministry's statement said.