Brazil confirms 907 Zika-linked microcephaly cases

This Feb. 12, 2016 photo shows two-week-old Sophia, born with microcephaly, during a physical therapy session at the Pedro I hospital in Campina Grande, Brazil. While some Brazilian health experts believe the outbreak of the Zika virus is linked to the surge in rare birth defects like microcephaly, this city-run hospital is a case in point of government neglect. For example, the mayor’s request for $1.5 million to the Health Ministry to buy an MRI scanner has so far gone unmet. As part of across-the-board budget cuts in February, the Health Ministry was down about $650 million of planned spending. AP FILE PHOTO

BRASÍLIA, Brazil—Brazil has confirmed 907 cases of microcephaly and 198 babies with the birth defect who have died since the Zika virus outbreak started in October, authorities said Tuesday.

Health officials are still working on 4,293 suspicious cases, the Health Ministry said.

Scientists in Brazil say the increase in microcephaly—in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head and often incomplete brain development—is linked to an explosion of the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus, with an estimated 1.5 million people infected.

READ: Scientists: More research needed into Zika-microcephaly link

The World Health Organization is studying the possible connection and calls the Zika outbreak an international health emergency.

Brazil typically reports 150 cases of microcephaly per year.

READ: CDC team in Brazil to study possible Zika link to defect

The birth defect is also associated with mothers who contract syphilis, rubella or toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.