The Zika virus is strongly linked to primary microcephaly. (Photo : Getty Images)

Chinese researchers have found a link between the mosquito-borne Zika virus and an abnormal brain development ailment known as microcephaly.



The relation between the dreaded Zika virus and microcephaly has boggled doctors and specialists all over the world especially after an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease was recorded in the Americas.




Now, it appears as though some of China's scientists were able to crack the "why" in the equation by using pregnant mice in their research.



According to China Daily, Chinese Academy of Sciences' Xu Zhiheng, a principal investigator at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, and Qin Chengfeng of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences' Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology teamed up to successfully unravel the mysterious link between the disease and the virus.



According to their work, the Zika virus invades brain cells in fetal mice which later shows infected neural progenitor cells. This results in an altered immune response and cell death causes underdevelopment of the infant's brain.



Their study was not easily made considering that most of the tests failed to commence because some of the pups who were infected with the virus and survived were eaten by their mothers.



"This indicates that the pups were too sick. We have to use lower dose of Zika infection in the future to determine whether the pups will survive longer in order to determinate the long-term consequences of Zika infection on brain development," Xu explained as cited by the Xinhua News Agency.



In order to prevent this kind of failure, they opted to dissect the mice on the 18.5th day of its pregnancy to check on the pups and found that their heads were a third smaller than normal.



"Therefore, this is the direct evidence that Zika infection causes microcephaly," Xu concluded, adding a warning that there might be a significant difference between mice and human, which is why it is imperative to take necessary precaution when translating the findings into human disease management.

