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Zika birth defects affect first mainland US baby

Posted at 7:29 AM, Jun 01, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-01 08:15:28-04

A New Jersey doctor says a baby born to a mother with the Zika virus appears to be affected by the disease.

Officials at Hackensack University Medical Center say the 31-year-old woman from Honduras delivered the baby girl through a cesarean section Tuesday.

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Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, the hospital's director of maternal-fetal medicine and surgery, says the mother came to the U.S. to seek treatment after Zika symptoms were discovered. He says the virus was later confirmed.

Al-Khan says an ultrasound last week revealed birth defects, including microcephaly (my-kroh-SEF'-uh-lee), in which the baby's head is smaller than expected because the brain hasn't developed properly.

The doctor says the baby looks "completely Zika-affected," but confirmation of the virus in the infant is pending testing.

A baby in Hawaii was born with microcephaly related to Zika earlier this year.

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