Argentina woman contracts Zika without leaving the country

By Hugh Bronstein

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – An Argentine woman has contracted Zika without having left the country, suggesting the virus was sexually transmitted, a health official in Cordoba province said on Friday, bringing to nine the number of cases reported nationwide.

A major Zika outbreak began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. The virus has been linked to birth defects in babies born to infected mothers.

“We are thinking that the virus could have been transmitted sexually,” Cordoba health chief Francisco Fortuna told Radio Continental, adding that the patient had contact with a man who recently traveled to Colombia.

“This is the first case of Zika in Argentina affecting a patient who had not traveled overseas,” Fortuna said. In fact the woman had not even recently ventured beyond Cordoba.

Argentina’s health ministry previously reported eight cases of Zika throughout the country as of last week.

Scientists are investigating possible links between Zika in pregnant women and suspected cases in Brazil of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems.

And a new case study of a stillborn baby whose Brazilian mother was infected with Zika has raised suspicion that the virus may be capable of more damage than previously thought.

The study showed the baby’s brain was absent. The condition is known as hydranencephaly, marked by the cranial cavity being filled with fluid rather than of brain tissue.

There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and causes mild fever, rash and red eyes. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms, making it hard for pregnant women to know if they have been infected.

(Additional reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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• Zika