Ms Chan said that while a direct causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations has not yet been established, it is “strongly suspected”.
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It is now spreading explosively.
Meanwhile, WHO Assistant Director, Bruce Aylward, said there was no confirmation yet in the area of vaccines.
Although Brazil has seen the worst of the outbreak, several countries outside of the Americas have reported nationals returning home from South America with the disease, including three Britons and one Dane.
The Zika virus is becoming more of an worldwide concern as more than a million cases have been diagnosed in Brazil over the past few months. But it is the possible link to babies born with underdeveloped skulls and brains, a condition known as microcephaly, that is creating anxiety for governments and pregnant women across Latin America.
“Most people that would get this disease, if they were bitten by this mosquito, wouldn’t even know they had the disease”, she said.
– Zika virus is found in tropical locales with large mosquito populations.
El Salvador has taken still more drastic measures.
Alberta Health said it’s important pregnant women discuss their travel plans with their healthcare providers, and consider not travelling to areas where Zika is circulating.
At least 20 people have been confirmed to have the virus in the US, although all are believed to have contracted the virus while traveling overseas.
For now, there is no cure, and the World Health Organization says it could take years to get a vaccine.
The map above, from the World Health Organization, shows where the infection has been found. “But we expect further modifications to their donor programme and will announce those as soon as we can”.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The agency was criticized for not moving quickly enough on the Ebola outbreak.
Chan said the WHO will meet on Monday to decide whether to declare an global public health emergency in response to Zika, a move that would step up worldwide efforts to fight it.
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Google searches on Zika are up more than 160% n the past day, according to Danielle Bowers, a data and trends manager at Google’s News Lab.
