Health officials in the United States have concluded that being infected with the Zika virus when pregnant causes the birth defect microcephaly (where infants are born with unusually small heads).
According to
Reuters, it is hoped this discovery will refocus attention on efforts to stop infections and create emergency funding.
"There isn't any doubt that Zika causes microcephaly," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters in a conference on Wednesday."
It had not been declared the definitive cause of the rapidly rising rates of infection until now.
Now that it has been declared an official cause of the birth defect, it will now be harder for lawmakers to deny requests for emergency funding.
President Barack Obama has requested nearly 2 nillion dollars worth of funding to tackle the outbreak, and pregnant women are discouraged from travelling to at least 42 countries at the time of writing.
