June 1,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hackensack NJ, According to the Bergen Record , “A 31-year-old woman from Honduras, a nation ravaged by the Zika virus, gave birth to a baby suffering from the devastating effects of the virus on Tuesday at Hackensack University Medical Center, the first apparent case in the tri-state area, her physician said.”
It is believed the mother contracted the disease in Honduras after being bitten by a mosquito early in her pregnancy, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed she was infected with the Zika virus, according to Dr. Manny Alvarez, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Hackensack.
Dr. Alvarez said that the baby delivered by Cesarean-section on Tuesday suffered from low birth weight and severe microcephaly, in which the baby’s head is smaller than expected. This condition can lead to seizures, developmental delays, hearing loss and severe mental disabilities. The baby was also born with intestinal issues and visual issues,
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously issued a travelers alert for Honduras.
According to the CDC website a total of 591 cases of Zika virus have been reported in the United States, including 14 in New Jersey and 127 in New York, and in each case the victims contracted the virus while travelling abroad.