The warning came a day after authorities confirmed the death of a 61-year-old Zika patient in the eastern state of Sabah in Borneo.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday that it has granted $2.4 million to five jurisdictions to help combat the spread of the Zika virus.
The research team, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Oxford University and the University of Toronto, Canada, said “vast numbers” of people were living in environments where it would be hard to prevent, detect and respond to the virus.
On Friday, the World Health Organization confirmed that no new infections arose at the Olympics itself, and furthermore, no cases have been reported since travelers and athletes have returned to their home countries.
“The virus from these two patients was not imported from South America”.
She said the Zika virus was also sexually transmitted and that pregnant women, their partners and others who plan on pregnancy, should observe safe sex precautions to avoid infection.
At a news conference in Geneva, the head of the WHO’s health emergency programme Peter Salama, said: “We don’t have any confirmed cases of Zika amongst travellers or amongst indeed athletes”.
Experts and officials say both countries will struggle to contain the virus because of the spread of the Aedes mosquitoes, which also carry dengue, a potentially fatal virus that Singapore and Malaysia have been battling for years. It poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. He said health facilities in Brazil had been poised to track and treat Zika cases, but had reported none.
Though not common, people with the virus can experience symptoms of fever, rash, joint pain, headache and red eyes.
Declaring an outbreak a PHEIC requires officials to believe that the virus can pose a health risk for several countries and that it “potentially requires a coordinated worldwide response”.
The global health agency convened experts this week to decide whether the Zika virus continued to constitute a public health emergency.
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She added Zika-positive patients admitted to hospitals generally have very mild symptoms, and they are discharged within one to two days with negative test results.
