France begins nationwide probe

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 have sparked a public health scare.

Francois Bourdillon, head of the Public Health France agency, confirmed the  investigation and said the results would be known in about three months.

A relatively small number of cases have been detected so far in total -- about 25 over the past 15 years in the regions of Brittany, Loire-Atlantique and Ain -- but the defects have caused public alarm.