West Nile virusPIXNIO, CYNTHIA GOLDSMITH A Zika virus infection during pregnancy puts the fetus at risk of developing birth defects. Now, a new study suggests Zika may not be alone in harming babies. West Nile virus and Powassan virus, both flavivirus cousins of Zika, can infect and damage fetuses in pregnant mice and replicate efficiently in maternal and fetal tissues from humans, researchers report today (January 31) in Science Translational Medicine.
“Basically they found that these [related] viruses were able to cross the placenta and infect the developing fetus,” says microbiologist Jean Lim of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York who was not involved in the project. “The study is provocative because it highlights the need to evaluate how other flaviviruses, such as West Nile, may affect the baby.”
Following the 2015 outbreak of Zika infections in Brazil and surrounding countries, it quickly became apparent that the virus could cause microcephaly—a smaller than normal head—and other abnormalities in babies born to infected mothers.
Zika was originally identified in 1952 and not previously linked to microcephaly, so “there had been a lot of speculation about Zika virus being unique . . . ...
