Baby birth defects fuel France fear amid probe
Print Edition
France has launched a nationwide probe into incidents of babies being born with either missing or malformed arms after abnormal rates of birth defects in several regions sparked a public health scare.
Francois Bourdillon, head of the Public Health France agency, confirmed for the first time that a national investigation was 鈥渦nder way鈥 and the results would be known in about three months.
鈥淣othing is being hidden from you,鈥 he assured listeners to RTL radio.
Confidence in the state鈥檚 handling of the issue took a blow on Monday night when health authorities reported an additional 11 cases in the Ain area near the Swiss border between 2000 and 2014 which had not previously been made public.
A relatively small number of cases have been detected so far in total 鈥 about 25 over the past 15 years in the regions of Brittany, Loire-Atlantique and Ain 鈥 but the defects have caused public alarm and have been widely reported in French media.
Officials had already called the number of cases in Brittany and the Loire-Atlantique areas, on France鈥檚 west coast, statistically 鈥渆xcessive鈥 and Health Minister Agnes Buzyn has vowed to probe further.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to exclude anything,鈥 she told the BFM television channel on Tuesday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 maybe something environmental, it鈥檚 maybe what they (pregnant mothers) ate, it鈥檚 perhaps what they breathed in.鈥
So far, no explanation has been found for the deformations despite tests on the mothers to see if they were exposed to any substances.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
