Colombia confirms first three deaths of patients infected with Zika virus

Colombia has confirmed the first three deaths of patients infected with the Zika virus who had contracted a seemingly related disease that attacks the nervous system and causes paralysis.

Alejandro Gaviria, the health minister, told the Guardian that another two deaths caused by the disease – known as Guillain-Barré syndrome – were still unconfirmed to be Zika-related.

Health officials in the country’s second city, Medellín, reported on Thursday that a man and a woman admitted from other areas died in the past week after presenting symptoms of Guillain-Barré, which include muscle weakness and paralysis. Another man died in late November. All three tested positive for the Zika virus.