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The scale and severity of prenatal damage by the Zika virus are far worse than past birth defects associated with microcephaly, a condition characterized by a small head and brain abnormalities. Scans, imaging and autopsies show that Zika eats away at the fetal brain. It shrinks or destroys lobes that control thought, vision and other basic functions. It prevents parts of the brain not yet formed from developing. “These aren’t just microcephaly, like a slightly small head. The brain structure is very abnormal,” said Jeanne Sheffield, director of maternal-fetal medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who has been counseling pregnant women about microcephaly for two decades. (Magalhaes and McKay, 4/28)

The first commercial U.S. test to diagnose Zika virus won emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration Thursday. It's a rare piece of good news as states and the federal government struggle to get out ahead of the Zika virus epidemic as it makes its way north to the U.S. (Fox, 4/28)

As summer approaches, anxiety about Zika is growing in states like Florida and Texas. The virus hasn't spread to mosquitoes along the Gulf Coast, and it may not, but experts are preparing nonetheless. And because Zika can cause birth defects in newborns, many women — and their doctors — are nervous. In the waiting room at Houston IVF, patients are handed a map of Zika-affected countries and asked to fill out a questionnaire. "The first thing I'm discussing now is Zika," said Dr. Jamie Nodler. (Feibel, 4/28)

The Zika virus has hit Puerto Rico as the U.S. commonwealth reels from an economic crisis that has led to thousands of layoffs at its hospitals. The virus' impact and how the federal government should respond has been an issue in the 2016 Democratic primary and one that the next president — Democrat or Republican — could very well have to tackle. (Gamboa, 4/28)