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A senior Jamaican health official is predicting that Jamaica will at some point record a case of Zika related congenital anomalies, such as microcephaly.
This prediction has come from Dr. Karen Webster Kerr, Principal Medical Officer for Epidemiology in the Ministry of Health.
The country has recorded three cases of babies born with microcephaly; however, none has been linked to the Zika virus.
In an interview with RJR News on Monday morning, Dr. Webster Kerr said it was only a matter of time before Jamaica sees its first case of Zika linked congenital anomaly.
"We have probably 700 microcephaly (cases) each year. Most of them are not severe microcephaly but what the other countries have seen in this Zika outbreak is that it is associated with congenital anomolies, of which microcephaly is one feature," said Dr. Webster Kerr.
She said babies born with microcephaly congenital anomalies are tested, along with their mothers, for all infectious agents that are likely to cause microcephaly, including Zika.
Microcephaly is a birth defect where a baby’s head is smaller than the average circumference. Babies with microcephaly often have underdeveloped brains.