First baby born in NJ with Zika-related defects: Officials

A 31-year-old woman diagnosed with the Zika virus gave birth to a baby girl at Hackensack University Medical Center Tuesday, health officials said.

The baby displayed symptoms of the virus, includingmicrocephaly, a defect in which the baby’s head is smaller than expected, and low birth weight, The Recordreported.

Dr. Manny Alvarez, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Hackensack, said the baby was delivered by cesarean section around 3 p.m. She weighed less than 6 pounds at birth and was born at 35 weeks.

The mother and baby are stable and doing well, CNN reported.

Officials said this is the first case of a baby being born in the tri-state area with Zika-related birth defects.

The mother, who was not identified, is from Honduras, where she contracted the disease after a mosquito bite in what doctors believe was her second trimester.

She traveled to the U.S. and had been visiting relatives when she sought treatment at the hospital Friday, NBC New York reported. Doctors sent blood samples to the Centers for Disease Control, which confirmed her child had contracted Zika.

The CDC has issued a Level 2 alert for Honduras, urging travelers to “practice enhanced precautions.”

As of May 25, the CDC reported 591 travel-associated cases of Zika in the United States; no instances of Zika virus transmitted within the nation have been reported. Fourteen of these internationally contracted cases were seen in New Jersey, and 127 seen in New York.