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Baby born in Hawaii is 1st US birth with Zika virus

A Brazilian baby with microcephaly. (Felipe Dana, AP)

Honolulu – Health officials say a baby born in a Hawaii hospital is the first in the US born with Zika virus.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday it’s also the first infant born in the country with microcephaly associated with Zika virus. It’s a birth defect where a baby’s head is smaller than expected. Babies with the condition often have smaller brains that might not have developed properly.

The state Department of Health announced on Friday that the baby was born recently in an Oahu hospital. The mother likely had the mosquito-borne virus while living in Brazil and her newborn acquired the infection in the womb.

Neither the baby nor the mother is infectious. Officials say there’s no risk of transmission in Hawaii.

Written by PH

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