Colombian Vice Health Minister Fernando Ruiz said Monday that the epidemic of the Zika virus officially has ended in the country, 10 months after the mosquito-borne disease arrived there. The virus has infected almost 100,000 Colombians and caused 21 cases of the birth defect microcephaly. Ruiz told reporters that the number of infections has been dropping by 600 cases per week, though the declaration does not mean an end to infections. There will be an uptick of cases of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies, in September and October, according to Ruiz, when pregnant women infected during the peak of the epidemic will give birth.
