Zika Infection Suspected to be the Cause of 6 Deaths in Honduras

The Zika virus has infected about 30,000 people in 2016. Six people have died and 10 babies have been born with defects in Honduras in cases feared to have been caused by Zika, the health minister reported. Tests were being carried out to confirm whether the cases were the result of the virus, which is most commonly transmitted by mosquitoes and, more rarely, through sexual contact.

The fatalities were due to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder brought on by the immune system attacking the nerves, which can cause paralysis, according to the minister, Mireya Batres.

The latest death was a 15-year-old boy, she told local broadcaster HRN and other media.

The number of babies born with microcephaly, or abnormally small skulls and underdeveloped brains, has risen from six to 10, Batres said.

The tallies were higher than the minister's last count given June 26, 2016, when she spoke of three Guillain-Barre deaths and eight microcephaly cases.

Authorities in the tropical Central American country were conducting campaigns to try to reduce populations of the Aedes aegypti mosquito known to transmit Zika.

Source-AFP