CORRECTS CDC IS INVESTIGATING WHETHER AEDES ALBOPICTUS SPREADS THE ZIKA VIRUS, NOT DEFINITIVE - This 2003 photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes albopictus mosquito acquiring a blood meal from a human host. On Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, U.S. health officials are telling pregnant women to avoid travel to Latin America and Caribbean countries with outbreaks of a tropical illness linked to birth defects. The Zika virus is spread through mosquito bites from Aedes aegypti and the CDC is investigating whether it is also spread by Aedes albopictus. The disease causes only a mild illness in most people. But thereâs been mounting evidence linking the virus to a surge of a rare birth defect in Brazil. (James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)
HONOLULU (AP) – Health officials say a baby born in a Hawaii hospital is the first in the United States born with Zika virus.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday it's also the first infant born in the country with microcephaly (mye-CROW'-sef-ah-LEE') associated with Zika virus. It's a birth defect where a baby's head is smaller than expected. Babies with the condition often have smaller brains that might not have developed properly.
The state Department of Health announced Friday that the baby was born recently in an Oahu hospital. The mother likely had the mosquito-borne virus while living in Brazil and her newborn acquired the infection in the womb.
Neither the baby nor the mother is infectious. Officials say there's no risk of transmission in Hawaii.
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