--- title: Zika Virus May Be Linked to Eye Abnormalities: Study description: The Zika virus may be linked to eye abnormalities in infants, a new study has found. canonical: https://time.com/4214633/zika-eye-abnormalities/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-09T22:21:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:12:29.401Z article:section: Health og:title: Zika Virus May Be Linked to Eye Abnormalities in Babies: Study og:description: The defects can lead to blindness og:url: https://time.com/4214633/zika-eye-abnormalities/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2a7542e58449fa4/69887cdd5f570fe070b1f94e/zika-baby-eye-defects.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Brazil Faces New Health Epidemic As Mosquito-Borne Zika Virus Spreads Rapidly og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Zika Virus May Be Linked to Eye Abnormalities in Babies: Study twitter:description: The defects can lead to blindness twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2a7542e58449fa4/69887cdd5f570fe070b1f94e/zika-baby-eye-defects.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Zika Virus May Be Linked to Eye Abnormalities in Babies: Study > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 9, 2016 10:21 PM UTC  Dr. Vanessa Van Der Linden, the neuro-pediatrician who first recognized and alerted authorities over the microcephaly crisis in Brazil, measures the head of a 2-month-old baby with microcephaly on Jan. 27, 2016 in Recife, Brazil. Dr. Vanessa Van Der Linden, the neuro-pediatrician who first recognized and alerted authorities over the microcephaly crisis in Brazil, measures the head of a 2-month-old baby with microcephaly on Jan. 27, 2016 in Recife, Brazil. Mario Tama-Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 9, 2016 10:21 PM UTC The Zika virus [may be linked to eye abnormalities in infants](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/zika-virus-linked-infant-eye-abnormalities-study/story?id=36810603), a new study has found. Researchers from Brazil say the [mosquito-borne disease](http://time.com/4176167/zika-virus-what-to-know/) may put newborns at risk of ocular defects that can cause progressive vision loss, leading to blindness, according to a study published Tuesday in the [_Journal of the American Medical Association Ophthalmology_](http://archopht.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2491896). The Zika virus has already been linked to a rare birth defect called microcephaly, which causes babies to have small heads and incomplete brain development. The researchers say their study of 29 infants with microcephaly in Brazil cannot yet definitively link the eye abnormalities to the Zika virus until other diseases are ruled out as causes. Ten of the newborns had ocular abnormalities that ranged from minor to “vision-threatening” defects, including mottled pigments and chorioretinal atrophy, a condition in which parts of the eye are damaged and wither away, according to the study. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also looking into whether the Zika virus is linked to [Guillain-Barré syndrome](http://time.com/4209612/zika-guillain-barre-syndrome-cdc/), which can cause temporary paralysis. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4214633/zika-eye-abnormalities/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4214633/zika-eye-abnormalities/"},"headline":"Zika Virus May Be Linked to Eye Abnormalities in Babies: Study","datePublished":"2016-02-09T22:21:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:12:29.401Z","description":"The defects can lead to blindness","url":"https://time.com/4214633/zika-eye-abnormalities/","keywords":["Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2a7542e58449fa4/69887cdd5f570fe070b1f94e/zika-baby-eye-defects.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2a7542e58449fa4/69887cdd5f570fe070b1f94e/zika-baby-eye-defects.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Brazil Faces New Health Epidemic As Mosquito-Borne Zika Virus Spreads Rapidly","caption":"Dr. Vanessa Van Der Linden, the neuro-pediatrician who first recognized and alerted authorities over the microcephaly crisis in Brazil, measures the head of a 2-month-old baby with microcephaly on Jan. 27, 2016 in Recife, Brazil.","creditText":"Mario Tama-Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/zika/","name":"Zika"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4214633/zika-eye-abnormalities/","name":"Zika Virus May Be Linked to Eye Abnormalities in Babies: Study"}}]}] ```