PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago yesterday confirmed the first case of a baby born with microcephaly as a result of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh told a news conference that the parents were informed of the diagnosis on Friday. The unidentified child was born in September.
Microcephaly is a birth defect where a baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same sex and age.
Deyalsingh said that the Ministry of Health, through the Caribbean Public Health Agency, has already enlisted the help of experts from Brazil and Canada to supplement the local pool of specialists since the number of microcephaly cases caused by Zika may increase in the coming months.