Vietnam reports first Zika-linked microcephaly birth

Vietnam has reported its first case of microcephaly likely linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

The four-month-old girl with an abnormally small head was born in central Vietnam to a mother confirmed to have had the virus when she was pregnant.

The Ministry of Health’s General Department of Preventive Medicine said on its website on Sunday that the case had a “high probability of being linked to Zika virus and also the first in Vietnam”.

The virus generally causes a mild flu-like illness, but a major outbreak in Brazil last year revealed that it can result in severe birth defects when pregnant women are infected.