In a new alarming study on Zika virus, researchers from Brazil have revealed that pregnant women in Zika-affected areas who become infected with the mosquito-borne diseases could be at an increased risk of not only giving birth to a child with microcephaly, but also having a fetus with severe health complications.

These women may have a fetus with health issues with the nervous system. The virus has also been linked with high risk of fetal death, as per the study. It also stated that more than 30% pregnant women who had Zika infections showed fetal abnormalities in an ultrasound. These problems included microcephaly, a rare condition where a baby takes birth with a small head.

For the study, the researchers examined a number of fetuses and infants, and found that many of them were with severe health complications, including abnormally small body size and calcification of brain tissues. “Usually, viral infections don’t cause only one problem, and because of the array of problems now linked with Zika, the researchers suggest using the term Congenital Zika virus syndrome”, said Dr. Karin Nielsen-Saines, a researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and an author of the study.

The study has provided stronger evidence than many previous researches on the Zika virus and its effects on pregnant women. It has given proofs needed to show that microcephaly is strongly linked to Zika infection, said Amesh Adalja, an expert of infectious diseases from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Center for Health Security. Adalja wasn’t part of the study.

Brazil’s healthy ministry has already confirmed that Zika causes rare birth defects, but there were some people who claimed that there could also be other reasons behind microcephaly, which has killed many babies in the South America country.