A baby born in Hawaii with a birth defect that affects head size had also been infected with Zika virus, state health officials said Saturday.The finding even more strongly links the fast-spreading virus with the defect, called microcephaly, NBC News reported.
"The Hawaii State Department of Health has received laboratory confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of a past Zika virus infection in a baby recently born with microcephaly in a hospital on Oahu," the health department said in a statement posted on its website.
On Friday night, the CDC issued a travel advisory suggesting that pregnant women put off travel to affected regions, and issued a health alert to doctors to be on the lookout for the virus.
Microcephaly is an often severe birth defect that can kill an unborn child or cause disabilities throughout life. The brain and head are smaller than usual. The condition can be caused by genetics, alcohol use during pregnancy or infections such as rubella.
