Vietnam’s first case of microcephaly likely linked to the Zika virus has been confirmed.
Following the discovery of a four-month-old girl with an unusually small head in the Central Highland’s Dak Lak province earlier this month, authorities reported Sunday that the baby and mother both had antibodies consistent with the virus.
“This is the case of a child with congenital malformations symptoms, suffering from a small head, most likely related to the Zika virus,” read an official statement on the General Department of Preventive Medicine’s website.
Zika, although usually only presenting mild flu-like symptoms, has been linked to thousands of cases of microcephaly in newborn babies worldwide. The disease is believed to affect prenatal development in women infected with the virus.
While most infections have been reported in Latin America, Vietnam has diagnosed nine Zika infections in 2016.