Brazil confirms 1,700 cases of microcephaly potentially linked to Zika virus among newborns

Brazil has confirmed 1,709 cases of microcephaly among newborns potentially linked to the Zika virus, including 102 deaths, in the past nine months, said the Health Ministry.

Some 3,182 cases of microcephaly are still under investigation, said the Health Ministry in a weekly report.

The Zika virus, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, has milder symptoms than dengue or chikungunya fever, also transmitted by the same species. But when pregnant women are infected with Zika, they can give birth to babies with microcephaly, a defect marked by unusually small and underdeveloped brains, or other health conditions.

Zika is raging across Latin America, with Brazil having registered the largest number of microcephaly cases.

(APD)