Zika virus has raised a vigil among medical experts and health ministries in many countries. Almost every day, scientists are coming up with fresh discoveries on the Zika virus, and each bit of information they are getting is making the virus more frightening.

On Thursday, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that there is nothing regarding Zika control that is fast or simple. Dr. Frieden added that the only fast thing is the mosquito bite that can give a person the virus.

Since the declaration of the Zika virus as a public health emergency by the World Health Organization, scientists have associated it with paralysis and brain infections among adults, but the virus’ most horrifying outcome has been noticed on developing fetuses. Many kids have been born with abnormal head and developmental issues.

A research carried out at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore has shown that Zika infects and kills the cells that play part in forming the developing brain.

Another study, conducted by the University of California-Los Angeles along with researchers at the Fiocruz Institute in Brazil, has discovered a strong association between Zika and worse pregnancy outcomes, which haven’t been documented earlier, as per the senior author of the study at the UCLA School of Medicine, Dr. Karin Nielsen.

In a university press release, Nielsen was quoted as saying, “We saw problems with the fetus or the pregnancy at eight weeks, 22 weeks, 25 weeks, and we saw problems at 35 weeks. Even if the fetus isn’t affected, the virus appears to damage the placenta, which can lead to fetal death”.

The study has shown abnormalities in 29% of the fetuses of women who tested positive for the Zika virus and had undergone ultrasound examinations. While speaking to VOA, Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases called the high attack rate quite upsetting.