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Canada reports first case of baby born with Zika-linked birth defect

A mother takes care of her baby who was born with microcephaly in the Intensive Care Unit of the South Hospital in Choluteca, south of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, July 28, 2016. (AFP)

Canada has reported its first case of a baby born with birth defect linked to Zika virus.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said the baby was born with "severe neurological congenital anomalies" linked to Zika.

The World Health Organization included the case of "congenital malformation associated with a travel-related case of Zika virus infection" in its weekly Zika report. The WHO, however, has not determined the location where the mother contracted the virus.

It is the second confirmed case of maternal-to-fetal Zika virus infection in Canada.

The WHO said the number of confirmed cases of Zika has increased to 205 in Canada as of August 11, most of them travel-related. The report noted that 13 pregnant women in Canada have been infected.

The mosquito-borne virus has been reported in more than 30 countries and is linked with a surge in cases of microcephaly, an untreatable condition in which babies are born with abnormally small head and undeveloped brain.

The WHO has warned that the virus is "spreading explosively" in South America and could infect millions of people.

Although the symptoms of the virus are relatively mild and only 1 in 5 persons exposed to it become ill, those who are experiencing fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (pink eye) have been strongly advised to seek immediate medical care.


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