Zika Virus May Have Caused Two US Women to Miscarry

Two pregnant American women infected with the Zika virus have miscarried, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday. It's the first potentially Zika-related miscarriages in the US, the Washington Post reports. According to ABC News, officials have been concerned the virus could cross through the placenta and cause miscarriages. These miscarriages would appear to confirm that theory. "It's absolutely possible for an infection, whether it be viral or bacterial, to result in a miscarriage," one obstetrician-gynecologist tells the Post.

The Zika virus was found in the placentas of both women. But it has not been confirmed the miscarriages were actually caused by the virus. "Two cases don't make the whole story, but it certainly would be biologically consistent with the [fact]," an infectious disease expert tells ABC. The women contracted the virus, which has now spread to more than 30 countries, while traveling abroad. It is believed to be behind an outbreak of birth defects—and a handful of miscarriages—in Brazil. (More Zika virus stories.)