Zika virus linked to severe joint abnormalities in babies, new research suggests
Zika virus has been linked with babies born with a severe joint condition which causes deformities at birth, particularly in the arms and legs.
The infection affecting pregnant women is already associated with children born with abnormally small heads and brain damage - a condition known as microcephaly.
But now researchers in Brazil believe there may also be a link between Zika infection and a condition called arthrogryposis, after the cases of seven children were discovered by a team based in Recife, the Brazilian city at the centre of the Zika epidemic.
Their study, published in the BMJ, said the arthrogryposis seen in the babies was "likely to be of neurogenic origin".
The researchers suggest the condition might be related to the way motor neurons carry signals to the unborn baby's muscles, or to problems with the arteries and veins.
The virus's link to microcephaly was deemed to be a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation earlier this year.
The current epidemic began in Brazil last year.