Since last Oct. 22, Brazil says there have been 641 new cases of microcephaly – which is babies being born with unusually small heads and brains. Not every case of microcephaly, however, is being blamed on the zika virus.
This year, Brazil is also expecting the number of dengue cases to be greater than last year. In Jan. - Feb. 2016, through Feb 6, Brazil had more than 170,000 cases, and in the previous year, only 116,452 cases in the same time period. This means that there is already an increase of 46% over last year. In all of 2015, there were 1.65 million cases, and nine deaths.
So far, there is no official proof that mosquito bites and zika are related, although scientists in Brazil and in the U.S. believe there is a connection. As a precaution, the CDC has warned pregnant women from attending the Olympics in Brazil this summer. Zika has been called an international emergency.
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Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazil-confirms-more-microcephaly-births-dengue-cases-rise-1456930722
Photo: Unchanged; by Jeso Carnelro
Keywords: dengue, zika, microcephaly, Brazil, new cases, pregnant, Olympics