Woman diagnosed With Zika Virus Gives Birth in New Jersey Hospital.

A woman diagnosed with the Zika virus gave birth to a girl with microcephaly at a New Jersey hospital, the first apparent case of a baby being born in the Northeast with defects from the disease,

Manny Alvarez, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Hackensack University Medical Center told The New York Times.

The mother, who was visiting the U.S., contracted the disease internationally, officials at Hackensack University Medical Center say.

Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, the hospital's director of maternal-fetal medicine and surgery, says the baby looks "completely Zika-affected," but confirmation of the virus in the infant is pending testing.


The Record newspaper reports the woman is 31 and from Honduras, a nation ravaged by the Zika virus. She contracted the disease there after being bitten by a mosquito early in her pregnancy, her physician at the hospital told the newspaper.

The baby was delivered by Cesarean section Tuesday after an ultrasound confirmed the birth defects: low birth weight and severe microcephaly. The mother was 35 weeks pregnant.

The mother had been visiting relatives in the area when she went to the hospital Friday, and a blood test by the CDC in Atlanta confirmed her daughter had contracted Zika, The Record reports. The woman had a rash early in her pregnancy but no other symptoms.

The Zika virus causes only a mild and brief illness, at worst, in most people. But in the last year, infections in pregnant women have been strongly linked to fetal deaths and to potentially devastating birth defects, mostly in Brazil.

Last January
A baby born in January in Hawaii had the first case of brain damage linked to the virus in U.S., the CDC said.
U.S. health officials said in April there is no longer any doubt the Zika virus causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and other severe brain defects.

Newborns with microcephaly often act just like other newborns, perhaps a bit fussier, NBC News reported. But the disabilities will appear as the growing children miss important milestones. They'll have learning deficiencies, vision problems and hearing problems, and many will also have physical disabilities.

There is no cure.
The World Health Organization released new guidelines Tuesday advising people who recently traveled to a Zika-infected country to wait eight weeks before trying to conceive, even if neither partner has symptoms of the virus, which can be sexually transmitted. It also urges protected sex in general.