"Zika Virus Found In Fetal Brain"

"The Zika virus, thought to be responsible for a surge in birth defects in Brazil, has been found inside the abnormally small brain of an aborted fetus at roughly 29 weeks of gestation, a team of researchers reported Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

An autopsy of the aborted fetus revealed a brain that had virtually none of the folds and convolutions that would usually be seen on the brain's surface in a fetus at that point in its development. Calcium deposits were evident throughout the brain's white matter--the tissue that connects neurons and brain regions to one another. And in several places, those calcifications displaced developing cortical matter.

The calcium deposits "resembled destroyed neuronal structures," the researchers said."

Melissa Healy reports for the Los Angeles Times February 10, 2016.

SEE ALSO:

"The Zika Virus's Family Tree" (Atlantic)

"This Mosquito Likes Us Too Much For Our Own Good" (NPR)