NEW THREAT

Paralysis Condition Surges in Zika Zones

Doctors puzzled over rise in Guillain-Barré cases.

Medical experts are warning that an uptick in cases of Guillain-Barré, the West’s most common cause of general paralysis, may be linked to the spreading Zika epidemic. The World Health Organization said the rare and sometimes fatal condition has been rising in Brazil, El Salvador, Colombia, and Venezuela, but officials cautioned that they have not proven a link between the two surging illnesses. Guillain-Barré typically hits after a bacterial or viral infection, but its cause cannot always be determined. “It’s an epidemiological association,” one neurologist told the Associated Press. The physician said he’s convinced the Zika virus increases susceptibility to the condition: “We don’t know exactly how it works. But it’s there, for sure.”