First Zika-linked Microcephaly Case Identified in Harris County, Texas

As described by the reporter within the video above, the mother was thought to be possibly infected with Dengue and Zika, but her test results were inconclusive.  The studies listed below might be able to shed some additional light on this topic.

ucsf.edu - by Laura Kurtzman - July 13, 2016

Symptoms of infection with the Zika virus in Brazil may be masked by simultaneous infection with other mosquito-spread viruses common in the same region — such as dengue fever and chikungunya viruses — pointing to the need for comprehensive testing, according to a study led by a UCSF expert in DNA-based diagnostics in collaboration with Brazilian researchers.

Using sophisticated genetic fingerprinting techniques that can identify multiple co-infections, a research team led by Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, associate professor of laboratory medicine and of medicine, and director of the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center at UCSF, found two cases of co-infection with the chikungunya virus among 15 previously confirmed Zika cases from the state of Bahia, Brazil, diagnosed from April 2015 to January 2016.

“With these viruses, the symptoms associated with acute illness, including fever, rash, joint pains and conjunctivitis, are non-specific, so it is difficult to make an accurate diagnosis based on clinical findings alone,” Chiu said. “It’s easy to imagine a physician failing to detect Zika when they instead suspect a different virus that causes similar symptoms, and then their suspicion is confirmed by a diagnostic test designed to detect only that virus – they might easily miss a co-infection if they do not test for more than one virus.”

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - Co-Infections from Zika and Chikungunya Virus in Bahia, Brazil Identified by Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing

CLICK HERE - Clinical Manifestations of Zika Virus Infection, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2015

CLICK HERE - Genomic Assays for Identification of Chikungunya Virus in Blood Donors, Puerto Rico, 2014

First Zika-Linked Microcephaly Case Has Been Identified in Harris County, Texas (1 page .PDF file)
http://publichealth.harriscountytx.gov/Portals/27/Documents/News/Zika_Micro_Press_7-13-16_.pdf?ver=2016-07-13-130439-127

Harris County Public Health - Press Releases
http://publichealth.harriscountytx.gov/Newsroom/Press-Releases