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ByJennyBarchfieldand Peter Prengaman The Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO Often drowned out by the dire warnings and fear sur- rounding Zika, some med- ical professionals are say- ing that Brazil and interna- tional health officials have prematurely declared a link between the virus and what appears to be a surge in birth defects. A few even argue that the Brazilian government is be- ing irresponsible, given that a connection hasn't been scientifically proven be- tween the mosquito-borne virus and the birth defect known as microcephaly, which causes infants to be born with abnormally small heads. "It's a global scandal. Brazil has created a world- wide panic," said Alexan- dre Dias Porto Chiavegatto Filho, a professor of epide- miology at the University of Sao Paulo, one of the most-respected universi- ties in Latin America. "I'm not saying that Zika is not causing microcephaly, but I am saying that the min- istry has yet to present any scientifically credible evi- dence to support that con- clusion." Chiavegatto and others argue there are still too many unanswered ques- tions to blame Zika. Why are the vast majority of the cases of microceph- aly being reported in Bra- zil? Why haven't they also shown up in proportional numbers in other coun- tries hit hard by Zika, such as Colombia? (The answer, some say, is that Brazil was hit by Zika first, and micro- cephaly cases might be ex- pected to crest elsewhere in the months ahead.) And how can conclu- sions be drawn from gov- ernment statistics that are flawed and possibly vastly underreported in the past, before Brazilian officials re- quired doctors to report mi- crocephaly cases? In an article published Wednesday by the Annals of Internal Medicine, 14 Brazilian and American re- searchers said the link be- tween Zika and microceph- aly "remains presumptive." The strongest evidence is circumstantial, they said, and there are challenges in confirming the connection. But Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Castro recently said he was "abso- lutely sure" of a causal link between Zika and micro- cephaly. He and other sci- entific experts around the world have pointed to stud- ies that detected the pres- ence of Zika in the brains of dead fetuses and in the pla- centas of babies diagnosed with microcephaly in the womb. While visiting Brazil on Wednesday, Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organiza- tion, said microcephaly can be caused by many things but that her organization was affirming that "Zika is responsible (for it in Brazil) until evidence to the con- trary emerges." And the At- lanta-based Centers for Dis- ease Control and Preven- tion has warned pregnant women against traveling to more than 30 destinations where the virus has been registered, most in Latin America. Every week, the evi- dence is "getting stron- ger and stronger," Dr. An- thony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Al- lergy and Infectious Dis- eases, told a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday. He cited several published cases where the virus was found after fetal or new- born deaths. Still, despite the heavy- weight support and anec- dotal evidence, some crit- ics are not satisfied. Luis Correia, who teaches scientific method at the Ba- hia School of Medicine and Public Health, said the small-scale studies cited by health officials don't equal proof. "There appears to be a sort of scientific illiteracy within the ministry that has led them to mix up associ- ation with causality," said Correia. "They are confus- ing hypothesis with fact." Correia compared the situation to finding a by- stander at the scene of a murder. That person could have committed the crime or just have been a witness. Correia and Chiavegatto stressed that another un- known factor, either alone or in tandem with Zika, might be triggering micro- cephaly. Both suggested that because the majority of mothers of babies with the condition are poor women from Brazil's less-developed northeast, this theoretical unknown factor could be lurking in poverty and poor living conditions. Some speculate that pol- itics, not science, may have pushed Brazil's health min- istry to jump the gun on Zika. The line of think- ing is that President Dilma Rousseff's deeply unpopu- lar, scandal-plagued gov- ernment is facing so many problems that health offi- cials felt compelled to err on the side of caution and a robust response. This week, the CDC and Brazilian health officials started work in Paraiba aimed at trying to scientifi- cally establish the link. Several CDC teams hope to recruit more than 100 mothers with babies with microcephaly, and two to three times that number of mothers with healthy in- fants born around the same time and in the same area. BIRTH DEFECTS SomeexpertscontendBrazil is exaggerating Zika crisis ANDREPENNER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Brazilian and U.S. health workers draw blood from 3-month-old Esther Kamilly at her home in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, on Wednesday as part of a study to determine if the Zika virus is causing babies to be born with a birth defect affecting the brain. RAFIQ MAQBOOL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Indians take a selfie in Mumbai's coastline. India is home to the highest number of people who have died while taking photos of themselves. By Rishabh R. Jain and Manish Mehta The Associated Press MUMBAI, INDIA Look around in any major In- dian city, and you will find someone with an arm out- stretched, mobile phone in hand, smiling widely and clicking away. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embraced the me- dium, posting pictures on- line he's snapped with var- ious world leaders. But the pursuit of the most epic selfie can have lethal consequences. India is home to the highest number of people who have died while tak- ing photos of themselves, with 19 of the world's 49 recorded selfie-linked deaths since 2014, accord- ing to San Francisco-based data service provider Pri- ceonomics. The statistic may in part be due to In- dia's sheer size, with 1.25 billion citizens and one of the world's fastest-growing smartphone markets. Alarmed by the trend, Mumbai has declared 16 no-selfie zones across the city, as authorities warn people against taking un- necessary risks. Earlier this month, an 18-year-old college stu- dent on a class picnic lost his balance while tak- ing a selfie atop a rock near a dam near the cen- tral Indian city of Nashik. He fell into the water and drowned, along with a classmate who jumped in to try and save him. Last month, an 18-year- old woman fell and drowned in the sea while taking a photo of herself at Mumbai's Bandstand Fort, a popular tourist spot. An engineering student sustained fatal head inju- ries when a rock he was standing cracked and sent him tumbling. He'd been trying to take a selfie with friends in front of the Kolli Hills in Tamil Nadu. And in January 2014, three students aged 20 to 22 died when they stopped to take a photo with a speeding train approach- ing, and were hit. They'd been on their way to visit the Taj Mahal. In Mumbai, police have declared selfies off-limits in areas perceived as risky — particularly along the coastline in spots with no railings or barriers. Any- one venturing into off- limits areas, even if they take no photos, risks be- ing slapped with a fine of 1,200 rupees, or about $18. After the woman's death last month, the city's police conducted a survey to identify such dangerous places, po- lice official Dhanan- jay Kulkarni said. The city also plans to run an awareness campaign. Mu mb ai s et s no -s el fie zones as deaths rise INDIA P.O.Box220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. DONATE YOUR VACATION newspaper dollars to the Newspaper In Education Program HELP OUR CHILDREN For more details call Circulation Department (530) 73 7-5047 4,713fans+25 this week | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016 8 B