Colombia doctor reports first case of Zika-linked microcephaly

By Julia Symmes Cobb
BOGOTA, March 4 (Reuters) - The first case of birth defect
microcephaly linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus has
appeared in Colombia, a doctor said on Friday, although the
national health institute said it had no information on the case
and could not confirm it.
Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus
actually causes microcephaly, a condition defined by unusually
small heads that can result in developmental problems.
Colombia, seen as a key test case of the impact of the
virus, has 42,706 cases of Zika, including 7,653 pregnant women.
A study of 28 women in Colombia's Sucre province infected
with Zika during pregnancy has so far yielded one baby with
microcephaly, said Alfonso Rodriguez-Morales, a doctor and
researcher at the Technical University of Pereira. It was not
immediately known when the child was born.
"The only infection that would explain what is happening is
the Zika virus," he said.
One case does not prove an overall link between the virus
and microcephaly, Rodriguez-Morales told Reuters in a phone
interview, but his team has ruled out other potential causes of
the defect in this child, including rubella, herpes, syphilis
and toxoplasmosis.
The two other babies born to women in the study had cranial
defects that are being investigated and could not so far be
linked to Zika, Rodriguez-Morales said.
The virus is present in all three babies and the women,
whose infections have been confirmed by lab tests, remain under
observation.
The country's national health institute said it could not
confirm the case because no samples from the patients had been
sent to its laboratories. The institute currently is monitoring
28 children with potential microcephaly, not all related to
Zika, but so far no case of the defect is linked to the virus,
the institute told Reuters.
Rodriguez-Morales said researchers have sent the samples to
the institute. The potential case was first reported by science
journal Nature.
"We'll really see the impacts of Zika on newborns and
pregnancy during the next two or three months,"
Rodriguez-Morales said. "One will be able to see the real
magnitude of the problem."
Colombian health officials last week reported a "probable"
case of microcephaly possibly linked to Zika in an aborted
fetus.
The health minister has said original estimates of
microcephaly cases may be too high.
Brazil said it has confirmed more than 640 cases of
microcephaly, and considers most of them to be related to Zika
infections in the mothers. It is investigating more than 4,200
additional suspected cases.