SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
CDC: 'There is No Longer Any Doubt that Zika Causes Microcephaly'
U.S. health officials publish conclusive findings linking mosquito-borne virus to birth defects
Apr 14, 2016
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday confirmed that the Zika virus causes fetal defects, including microcephaly, the condition that causes infants to be born with abnormally small brains and deformed heads.
The CDC published its findings in the New England Journal of Medicine after conducting what it called a "careful review of existing evidence." The conclusion, that there is a causal relationship between the virus and the defects, puts an end to months of speculation that the two were related.
"This study marks a turning point in the Zika outbreak," said Frieden.
He added to the New York Times, "There is no longer any doubt that Zika causes microcephaly."
Freiden said the CDC was launching new studies to investigate the potential scope of Zika's impact.
A report presented earlier this week at the conference for the American Academy of Neurology warned that the virus may cause more disorders than previously thought, including a brain swelling condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which manifests similarly to multiple sclerosis but is not permanent.
Health agencies for months have been operating under the assumption that Zika causes microcephaly, and have advised pregnant women to take safety measures against exposure to mosquitoes and avoid traveling to regions where the virus has struck. Wednesday's report also notes that no single piece of evidence confirmed the causal relationship, but that the researchers' conclusions are supported by "increasing evidence from a number of recently published studies and a careful evaluation using established scientific criteria."
The CDC said it hoped the announcement would raise awareness about the threat to those traveling to and living in affected regions in Latin America, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and southern U.S. states like Texas and Florida where the virus is expected to be seen this year.
"Surveys have told us that a lot of people aren't concerned about Zika virus infection in the United States--they don't know a lot about it," Dr. Sonja A. Rasmussen, CDC director of public health information and dissemination, told the Times. "Now that we can be more convincing that Zika virus does cause microcephaly, we hope that people will focus on our prevention messages more closely."
As Common Dreams has previously reported, the need to further investigate Zika's impacts also highlights the urgency of addressing climate change. Justin Donahoe, a Seattle-based organizer with Environment Washington, wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday, "Unfortunately, diseases like Zika thrive in warming climates, and this is exactly the sort of epidemic that climate scientists predict will become more pronounced unless we reduce climate pollution."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday confirmed that the Zika virus causes fetal defects, including microcephaly, the condition that causes infants to be born with abnormally small brains and deformed heads.
The CDC published its findings in the New England Journal of Medicine after conducting what it called a "careful review of existing evidence." The conclusion, that there is a causal relationship between the virus and the defects, puts an end to months of speculation that the two were related.
"This study marks a turning point in the Zika outbreak," said Frieden.
He added to the New York Times, "There is no longer any doubt that Zika causes microcephaly."
Freiden said the CDC was launching new studies to investigate the potential scope of Zika's impact.
A report presented earlier this week at the conference for the American Academy of Neurology warned that the virus may cause more disorders than previously thought, including a brain swelling condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which manifests similarly to multiple sclerosis but is not permanent.
Health agencies for months have been operating under the assumption that Zika causes microcephaly, and have advised pregnant women to take safety measures against exposure to mosquitoes and avoid traveling to regions where the virus has struck. Wednesday's report also notes that no single piece of evidence confirmed the causal relationship, but that the researchers' conclusions are supported by "increasing evidence from a number of recently published studies and a careful evaluation using established scientific criteria."
The CDC said it hoped the announcement would raise awareness about the threat to those traveling to and living in affected regions in Latin America, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and southern U.S. states like Texas and Florida where the virus is expected to be seen this year.
"Surveys have told us that a lot of people aren't concerned about Zika virus infection in the United States--they don't know a lot about it," Dr. Sonja A. Rasmussen, CDC director of public health information and dissemination, told the Times. "Now that we can be more convincing that Zika virus does cause microcephaly, we hope that people will focus on our prevention messages more closely."
As Common Dreams has previously reported, the need to further investigate Zika's impacts also highlights the urgency of addressing climate change. Justin Donahoe, a Seattle-based organizer with Environment Washington, wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday, "Unfortunately, diseases like Zika thrive in warming climates, and this is exactly the sort of epidemic that climate scientists predict will become more pronounced unless we reduce climate pollution."
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday confirmed that the Zika virus causes fetal defects, including microcephaly, the condition that causes infants to be born with abnormally small brains and deformed heads.
The CDC published its findings in the New England Journal of Medicine after conducting what it called a "careful review of existing evidence." The conclusion, that there is a causal relationship between the virus and the defects, puts an end to months of speculation that the two were related.
"This study marks a turning point in the Zika outbreak," said Frieden.
He added to the New York Times, "There is no longer any doubt that Zika causes microcephaly."
Freiden said the CDC was launching new studies to investigate the potential scope of Zika's impact.
A report presented earlier this week at the conference for the American Academy of Neurology warned that the virus may cause more disorders than previously thought, including a brain swelling condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which manifests similarly to multiple sclerosis but is not permanent.
Health agencies for months have been operating under the assumption that Zika causes microcephaly, and have advised pregnant women to take safety measures against exposure to mosquitoes and avoid traveling to regions where the virus has struck. Wednesday's report also notes that no single piece of evidence confirmed the causal relationship, but that the researchers' conclusions are supported by "increasing evidence from a number of recently published studies and a careful evaluation using established scientific criteria."
The CDC said it hoped the announcement would raise awareness about the threat to those traveling to and living in affected regions in Latin America, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and southern U.S. states like Texas and Florida where the virus is expected to be seen this year.
"Surveys have told us that a lot of people aren't concerned about Zika virus infection in the United States--they don't know a lot about it," Dr. Sonja A. Rasmussen, CDC director of public health information and dissemination, told the Times. "Now that we can be more convincing that Zika virus does cause microcephaly, we hope that people will focus on our prevention messages more closely."
As Common Dreams has previously reported, the need to further investigate Zika's impacts also highlights the urgency of addressing climate change. Justin Donahoe, a Seattle-based organizer with Environment Washington, wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday, "Unfortunately, diseases like Zika thrive in warming climates, and this is exactly the sort of epidemic that climate scientists predict will become more pronounced unless we reduce climate pollution."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.