Saturday, March 19, 2016
Associated Press
PANAMA CITY
Doctors in Panama have identified a baby born with a rare brain disorder thought to be linked to Zika, the first such case outside Brazil.
The Gorgas Memorial Institute said they found traces of the virus in the baby’s umbilical cord. The baby was born Thursday with a shrunken head, a condition known as microcephaly, and another cranial deformation called encephalocele. It died four hours later.
Like the vast majority of people infected with Zika, the child’s mother never reported symptoms during pregnancy.
A spike in microcephaly in Brazil has led doctors to investigate links between the birth defects and Zika.