Colombia reports 5 cases of Zika-associated microcephaly this year

Dead insects and larvae float in an empty vase at a cemetery in Cartagena, Colombia, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Local health workers emptied vases during a campaign to destroy potential hatcheries of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus at a the cemetery as part of a prevention campaign that according to the health ministry has already infected more than 16,000 people in Colombia, and could hit more than half a million. (AP Photo/Reinaldo Reyes) (AP)

BOGOTA, Colombia – Colombian authorities are reporting that five babies have been born in the country this year with microcephaly associated with the rapidly spreading Zika virus.

The National Health Institute also said Saturday that there have been 4,097 confirmed cases of Zika in pregnant women so far in 2016.

The mosquito-borne virus has been linked to microcephaly, a condition where babies are born with abnormally small heads. It can also cause a potentially deadly temporary paralysis syndrome known as Guillain-Barre.

Colombian authorities had previously reported two cases of Zika-associated microcephaly in April.