The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began reporting Zika-related birth defects in the United States to include live-born infants and pregnancy losses.
To date, the number of poor birth outcomes among pregnancies with laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection has totaled six, with three involving live births.
The federal health agency does state that although these outcomes occurred in pregnancies with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection, they do not know whether they were caused by Zika virus infection or other factors.
To protect the privacy of the women and children affected by Zika, CDC is not reporting individual state, tribal, territorial or jurisdictional level data.
Zika virus infection during pregnancy has been linked to adverse outcomes including pregnancy loss and microcephaly. Despite these observations, little is known about the risks of Zika virus infection during pregnancy. To understand more about Zika, CDC, in collaboration with state, local, tribal and territorial health departments, established the U.S. Zika Pregnancy Registry to actively monitor pregnancies for a broad range of poor outcomes.
The poor birth outcomes reported this week include those that are known to be caused by Zika (e.g., microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects) as well as others linked to Zika infection during pregnancy (e.g., eye defects).
In coming weeks, CDC will begin reporting Zika-linked poor pregnancy outcomes in the U.S. territories.
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