Study: Zika Causes Brain Injury in Monkey Fetus

There’s been some questions in the scientific and medical industries about whether or not the Zika Virus can cause brain defects in babies who are infected in the womb and a new study published on Monday is providing some pretty strong evidence that it’s possible.

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According to an article published by STAT, researchers from the University of Washington reported Monday that they infected a pregnant pigtail macaque monkey, then monitored the development of her fetus.

“Within three weeks of infection, there were already signs that the fetus’s brain had sustained damage. The white matter stopped developing, as did the size of the head,” the article reads. “We have incontrovertible, irrefutable evidence … that Zika causes fetal brain injury,” lead author Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf said in an interview with STAT.

“It does it, and it does it fast.”

A group of researchers headed by Adams Waldorf, who is an obstetrician-gynecologist who researches the impact of infections on pregnancy, made the discovery. The group of researchers was gathered by Waldorf earlier this year to study the effects of Zika on developing fetal brains.

“Bottom of ForThe  study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, is unusual, reporting on infection in a single animal. While studies in primates are generally small, it would be more common to have data on three or four infected animals and an equal number of healthy animals for comparison purposes,” the article reads.

The female monkey was already at the equivalent of the third trimester in a human pregnancy. The group monitored the fetus’ development through weekly ultrasounds and the fetus was reportedly delivered at the equivalent of 38 weeks via C-section.

“In humans, Zika infection in the first trimester seems to lead to the worst damage in affected fetuses. But experts have warned for some time that it’s likely that other problems —  hearing loss, vision loss, developmental delays — may arise when infection occurs later in pregnancy,” the article reads. That’s what this work mirrored, Adams Waldorf said. The rapidity of fetal brain damage suggests that preventing Zika infection in pregnant women has to be the goal, Adams Waldorf said; developing a treatment to be given after a woman develops symptoms would be a waste of time.”

Waldorf said the work proves Zika infection in the womb causes brain birth defects.