There is no connection between the Zika virus, which is transmitted via mosquito bite, to microcephaly, which causes birth defects, according to the Colombian National Institute of Health.
Colombian public health bosses made their claim Feb. 29 after performing tests on a baby that was born with microcephaly — a birth defect that stunts skull growth and brain development — but did not have the Zika virus. Instead, officials claimed that the baby in question developed the birth defect from rubella.
Zika has been declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization precisely because of its potential to cause deadly birth defects. In Colombia alone, there are over 42,700 cases of the Zika virus. The Colombian National Institute of Health estimates Zika contraction could ultimately affect at over 120,000 people in Colombia.
So far, over 7,653 pregnant women have contracted Zika in Colombia. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is actively studying the connection between pregnant women contracting Zika and babies born with microcephaly.
According to the CDC, the birth defects associated with microcephaly can be detected either during a pregnancy or after birth. The virus is spreading throughout Latin America and is predicted to affect the entire Western Hemisphere except Canada and Chile.
The Zika virus is already in the United States with cases reported in Puerto Rico, Florida, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which can carry the Zika virus, have specifically been found in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of D.C. but were not carrying Zika.
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