First baby with microcephaly born to Zika-infected woman in Spain

A WOMAN infected with the Zika virus gave birth to a baby with microcephaly in Barcelona on Monday, according to the hospital and health officials.

This is Spain’s first recorded case of a baby born with the birth defect associated with the Zika virus.

The brain-damaging disorder microcephaly was diagnosed after the baby was born with a smaller than normal head circumference, said Dr. Félix Castillo, the neonatal chief at Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona.

The mother was diagnosed with Zika in May after travelling in Colombia while thirteen weeks pregnant and decided to keep the baby.

The baby was born after 40 weeks by caesarean section.

Earlier in Europe, a Slovenian mother apparently decided to have an abortion after learning that her fetus could have microcephaly.

Dr. Castillo said that the life expectancy of the baby is that of any child with a brain condition.

The Zika virus has caused more than 1,500 cases of birth defects, most of those in Brazil where the epidemic originated.

So far there have been 190 cases of Zika infections reported in Spain, of which 26 are linked to pregnant women, according to Spain’s health ministry.