Grenada has become the second Caribbean country to confirm its first case of Zika-related microcephaly — a baby which was born with the birth defect.
In October last year, Trinidad also recorded its first case of microcephaly related to the Zika virus.
Microcephaly is a birth defect in which the baby’s head and brain are smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same age and sex.
Grenada’s Health Minister Nickolas Steele disclosed that the baby was born the last quarter of 2016, but it was now only being revealed to the public.
Steele assured that the family was being monitored and insisted there was no need for undue concern about the virus transmitted by the Aedes Egypti mosquito.
He said no new cases have been reported since then.
At the height of the Zika outbreak, the health minister said 11 people were diagnosed with the Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system.
Two of the people who contracted GBS have since died.
Meanwhile, Jamaican health authorities are waiting to confirm whether the island has recorded its first Zika-related microcephaly case.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Winston De Haye told journalists that a baby was born in late December as the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston with microcephaly, but the ministry was only notified about the probable cause earlier this month.
