Microcephaly

Justice Minister Konstantinos Tsiaras ordered on Wednesday a disciplinary inquiry into a coroner who claimed that an 11-month-old infant who died in a hospital in Athens last week had been sexually abused.

The purpose of the investigation is to establish whether there was any misconduct on the part of Sotiris Bouzianis, one of the coroners that performed the autopsy.

An 11-month-old infant from Syria that was proclaimed dead at Pedon childrens' hospital in Athens on Sunday had been sexually abused, the coroner who performed the autopsy told media on Monday.

The UN's health agency warned April 25 of the potential for a "marked increase" in Zika infections, and the spread of the virus to new parts of the world, even as the outbreak declines in Brazil.
 
Largely contained to Latin America and the Caribbean, Zika's range is likely to expand as summer arrives in the northern hemisphere -- and with it virus-transmitting mosquitoes.

U.S. health officials have concluded that infection with the Zika virus in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities in babies. 

Scientists in Brazil have uncovered a new brain disorder associated with Zika infections in adults: an autoimmune syndrome called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, or ADEM, that attacks the brain and spinal cord. 

It was a typically anodyne statement by the World Health Organisation: "Given the magnitude of the Zika crisis, WHO encourages affected countries and their partners to boost the use of both old and new approaches to mosquito control." Anodyne, that is, until you realize what they mean by "new approaches."

Joint teams of U.S. and Brazilian health workers will fan out across one of Brazil's poorest states Feb. 23 in search of mothers and infants for a study aimed at determining whether the Zika virus is causing babies to be born with unusually small heads.

Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry has advised the country's citizens to exercise caution when visiting parts of South America afflicted by mosquito-transmitted diseases.

More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Feb. 6, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas. 

There are 25,645 people infected with Zika in Colombia, Santos said during a TV broadcast with health officials. Among them are 3,177 pregnant women. 

Brazil warned pregnant women on Feb. 1 to stay away from the Summer Olympics after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international emergency over the Zika virus, blamed for causing a surge in brain-damaged babies.