Study links Zika to joint deformities in newborns
Experts in Brazil are seeing limb joint problems in newborn babies that may be caused by Zika.
A new study reveals that Zika virus may cause joint deformities in the arms and legs of newborns, BBC News reports.
Published in The BMJ, the study describes seven suspect cases and urges mothers to be vigilant.
The virus, which has prevented some athletes from going to Rio 2016, is already linked to serious brain damage in newborn children.
“Microcephaly is the most obvious sign of congenital infection with Zika, but it's becoming clear that's just part of the whole spectrum of damage that can be caused by the virus," said Professor Jimmy Whitworth from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
According to BBC News, there is evidence that Zika can set off a condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome – a rare but serious disease of the peripheral nervous system.
Now experts in Brazil say they are seeing limb joint problems in newborn babies that may be also be caused by Zika.
They studied seven babies with suspected Zika infection that had been born deformities to their ankles, hips, knees, elbows, wrists and fingers. The deformities are caused by muscles that have either contracted too tight, or some too flaccid, and have held the body parts in strange positions.
The team believe Zika attacks the brain's nerve centres supplying the muscles around the joints and screening of their brains seems to back this suggestion.
Since writing their findings, the researchers have seen 14 more babies with problems and are running further tests.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
