Baby with Zika-linked birth defect dies in Texas

The Zika virus has claimed the life of a Texas baby, health officials reported Tuesday.

The baby, whose mother had traveled to Latin America during her pregnancy, died shortly after birth. The infant was born with microcephaly,  a condition in which a baby's head is abnormally small and, in most cases, brain development is incomplete.

The baby was born in Harris County, which includes Houston. It's the first Zika-related death in Texas.

Zika-related brain damage in fetuses "is one of the saddest congenital birth outcomes imaginable," said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "The case highlights that ZIka is not just producing babies with small heads.  . . .We should expect many similar deaths, and also stillbirths."

Fifteen babies in the U.S. have been born with Zika-related birth defects, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seven women have lost pregnancies due to Zika. Those numbers could grow. Nearly 1,000 pregnant women in the continental U.S. and territories have been infected with Zika.

Miami is battling a local Zika outbreak in the Wynwood neighborhood that has infected 21 people, according to the Florida Department of Health.

More than 7,300 Americans have been diagnosed with Zika, including 1,825 in the continental U.S. and 5,548 in U.S. territories, according to the CDC. Most Zika cases in the continental U.S. are related to travel or sex with someone who has traveled. One Zika case was caused by a lab accident.

Texas officials say the mother and her baby posed no risk to others. Last month, Texas reported its first case of microcephaly linked to Zika, also in Harris County.

“Zika’s impact on unborn babies can be tragic, and our hearts are with this family,” said John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services. “Our central mission from the beginning has been to do everything we can to protect unborn babies from the devastating effects of Zika.”

What you need to know about Zika and pregnancy

The Texas baby's death is a reminder that American women and their babies, who tend to be healthier and better nourished than those in Brazil, aren't immune to the damage caused by Zika, said Lawrence Gostin, faculty director at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.

The baby's story also illustrates one way that the Zika epidemic is different than the Ebola outbreak two years ago, Gostin said. Ebola patients treated here were much more likely to survive than patients in West Africa, thanks to the USA's advanced health care system, Gostin said. In West Africa, some treatment centers lacked the basics of health care, such as the ability to provide intravenous fluids.

Sophisticated hospitals and health care may not be able to save babies affected by Zika, which can inflict damage in early pregnancy, Gostin said.

What you need to know about Zika and pregnancy