Parents plea for help to treat daughter Wu Zimiao who has huge black moles

Wu Zimiao from Xinyin, China, aged two months, has rare condition.

The disease, Giant Congenital Nevus, affects one per cent of infant children.

Farmer parents ask charities to help raise £53,000 needed for treatment.

The parents of a Chinese girl inflicted with a rare skin condition that left her with panda-esque polka dot patches are desperately trying to raise money for her laser treatment.

The baby Wu Zimiao, from Xinyin Town in north China's Hebei Province, is just two months old and suffers from severe Giant Congenital Nevus, a rare skin condition which affects just one per cent of infants, according to a report by People's Daily Online.

The child's parents, migrant farmers by trade, confirmed that they would not be able to afford the 500,000 yuan (£53,000) medical bills necessary to cure the child of her affliction. 

(more pix after the cut)

Unfortunate: Wu Zimiao from Xinyin, north China, is two months old and suffers from Giant Congenital Nevus

End game: The child's farmer parents have confirmed they are looking for help to raise £53,000 for treatment

The swollen dark patches, which are mainly focused on Zimiao's left shoulder but also appear on her back and head areas, are not painful but are known to cause skin cancer down the line.

Zimiao’s left arm, which is covered by moles, is considerably thinner than the right arm. Because Giant Congenital Nevus affects the excretory system, she suffers from a fever quite often.

The child's father Wu Xianpo, who said that he would never give up in finding a cure for his daughter, took Zimiao for treatment locally and was told by doctors that the sooner she received help, the less likely the condition would be to become cancerous.

Her parents chose to appeal to local charities to raise the funds required with her father stating 'We won't give up hope'.

Tragedy: The dark patches are mainly focused on Zimiao's left shoulder but also creep onto her face and neck

Complications: The condition, which only 1% of infants worldwide suffer from, has taken over Zimiao's arm

So far, local organisations have managed to donate 10,000 yuan (over £1000) to Zimiao's cause, and the family are asking for further donations to help eliminate the mutative condition, which has no known preventative at present.

Congenital Nevi are giant moles or birthmarks which are present at birth and are oversized, leaving sufferers dealing with societal acceptance and psychosocial issues. 

Last year, People's Daily reported the plight of a one-year-old boy from Sichuan province, south-west China, who had huge 'furry' moles growing on his back due to the same condition before receiving adequate treatment.  

WHAT IS CONGENITAL NEVI?

Congenital Nevi are moles or birthmarks which are present at birth and usually oversized.

 It is also known as Congenital Melanocytic Nevus (CMN) which means:

• Congenital - present at birth.
• Melanocytic - to do with melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells in everyone’s skin and hair that produces the pigment melanin. This is what which gives us our hair and skin colour. 
• Nevus - birthmark (the plural is nevi).

Though CMN means birthmark or mole at birth, around 1 per cent of CMN appear after birth, usually in the first year of life.

Having the condition means there is a risk that lesions and moles can also grow on the brain. This is called CMN syndrome, which can cause fits and stop development. If tumours develop, it can be fatal.

Children with particularly large marks are at increased risk of being diagnosed with malignant melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer. As a result, they must wear factor 50 sun cream and wear clothing with UV protection, if possible.