This artist’s image of a placenta shows how the Zika virus can affect a mother’s womb. The maternal blood vessels that feed into the placenta (A) become narrower and limit blood flow to the fetus. The leaf-like villi (C) that enable a fetus to receive oxygen-rich blood, absorb nutrients, and remove waste also become damaged. Seen under here under a microscope (D), representative cells that make up a placenta’s fetal villi also become damaged when a pregnant mother becomes infected with Zika. (OHSU)
