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# World

Mexico confirms first case of Zika-related birth defect

Mexico's health ministry has confirmed the first case of a Zika-related severe birth defect known as microcephaly. The ministry said…

AP | Mexico City | February 4, 2017 4:05 am

Mexico confirms first case of Zika-related birth defect

(PHOTO: Getty Images)

Mexico's health ministry has confirmed the first case of a Zika-related severe birth defect known as microcephaly.

The ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the child was premature and died at birth. It was born to a 25-year-old woman from the southern state of Oaxaca on November 5 last year.

The ministry says it took several months to confirm the microcephaly, which is characterised by newborns with abnormally small heads, was related to Zika.

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From November 2015 through the end of January, there have been 7,634 confirmed cases of Zika in Mexico, including 4,252 in pregnant women.

Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that has spread through Latin America and the Caribbean since 2015.

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