Dilma Rousseff said an operation to eliminate breeding areas for the Aedes aegypti mosquito had begun at installations run by the armed forces and at educational, health and other centres.
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The Zika virus is spreading rapidly in Latin America, and Asian governments have issued advisories in a bid to contain the mosquito-borne disease, which could be linked to birth defects and can cause temporary paralysis.
While there is no evidence the Zika virus can be passed human to human, there have been reports the virus has been isolated in human blood and semen.
There is no vaccine for the virus at the present.
The WHO expects the virus to spread to every country in the Americas except Canada and Chile.
In both Brazil and Colombia, the Zika virus has sparked a debate about abortion, with some activists arguing that it should be allowed in cases of microcephaly.
Official figures show 96 pregnant women are suspected of having contracted the virus, but so far none have had babies born with microcephaly.
With 20,000 people confirmed as having the virus, Colombia is now the second most infected country in the world after Brazil.
The National Health Institute said that 1,050 of Colombia’s Zika infection cases were confirmed by laboratory tests, 17,115 by clinical exams, and 2,132 were suspected cases.
The state Health Department says pregnant women are especially at risk for the Zika virus and should meet with a doctor if they’re planning to travel to many south and central American countries.
“What we have at this moment, in this country, is a group of women who’s in fear of getting pregnant and not knowing what will happen during the pregnancy”, a law professor at Brasilia University told the BBC.
It causes mild fever, rash, muscle pain, joint pain, headache, pain behind the eyes and conjunctivitis.
“Babies are being born with Microcephaly, which is under development of the brain or small heads”, said Dr. Keri Hall, an infectious disease specialist from Senatara Martha Jefferson Hospital. There is still much we don’t know about this virus.
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“Given the closeness between Zika and dengue, the collective and individual prevention measures for both viruses are identical”.
