A newborn with microcephaly associated zika became the first death from the virus in Panama, health authorities reported today.

"There was no history that she (the mother) was sick," he said at a press conference the director of Health, Itza Barahona de Mosca.

The baby was born Thursday at a hospital in Panama City with a "severe malformation incompatible with life" had been detected a few days before.

The newborn barely survived the first four hours and analysis of umbilical cord was infected have shown that zika, although tests have been negative mother, Barahona said Mosca.

"The fact that the child is infected means that the mother probably was at some point during pregnancy, although it should not have symptoms, since 80% of those infected are asymptomatic," said the official.

The woman, according to estimates by the authorities, had become infected in August 2015, which shows that "the virus was circulating in the country before we detect the outbreak" last December, recognized the director of the Ministry of Health.

"It was a matter of time that there was any birth affected by microcephaly or neurological disorder in our country," he admitted.

Currently, there are 134 cases of zika in the country, among which is a pregnant woman whose fetus has no symptoms of microcephaly.

Also, 2 people suffering from Guillain-Barre syndrome, with mild symptoms, according to the Panamanian ministry.

"For zika no vaccines, no medicines. The best way to avoid this is to eliminate mosquito breeding sites," Barahona de Mosca recommended.

The zika transmits the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also transmits dengue fever chikungunya and in other countries there is also evidence of transmission through sex.

The Government of Panama declared a month ago a national health alert to the risk of spreading the virus, because until then it was contained in the indigenous region Guna Yala, bordering Colombia, where the first case was detected in December 2015.

Virus Zika currently circulating in much of Latin and although causes mild symptoms in most infected, the great fear has to do with its likely connection with cases of microcephaly and neurological syndrome Guillain-Barre syndrome.

http://globovision.com/article/recien-nacido-con-microcefalia-es-primera-victima-mortal-del-zika-en-panama