The organization said it’s reasonable to estimate that there could be 3 million to 4 million cases of the virus within the next year in the Americas.
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“Questions abound. We need to get some answers quickly”, she said.
The virus “is now spreading explosively”, in the Americas, where 23 countries and territories have reported cases, the World Health Organization chief said.
The World Health Organization has called Thursday’s special session on Zika in part to convey its concern about an otherwise mild illness that has sown fear among many would-be mothers in Brazil, who have often responded by covering themselves head-to-toe in clothing in the often hot, largely tropical country or slopped on many coats of insect repellent.
Dr. Anthony Faucci, the director for National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, told ABC News that based on past experience with similar viruses, it may be possible for health officials to start testing a vaccine for the Zika virus later this year.
Zika is spread by the Aedes genus of mosquitoes, mainly the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue virus, yellow fever virus and Chikungunya.
Drawing a contrast with Ebola, Espinal stressed that Zika needs a carrier to spread and that controlling the mosquito was therefore crucial to controlling the outbreak.
People infected with Zika virus don’t infect one another directly – with the rare possibility that semen may carry the virus.
Chan highlighted the growing concern over Zika’s possible link to microcephaly and a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome. In Brazil, Colombia, and Jamaica, health ministers urged residents not to become pregnant.
Last year, Oxitec announced plans to build an OX513A mosquito production facility in Piracicaba, Brazil, that it says will be able to protect 300,000 residents.
Some experts had criticized Chan for not immediately convening a committee to advise on whether to declare Zika a public health emergency. But unlike some of those viruses, there is no vaccine to prevent Zika or medicine to treat the infection.
He said the agency expects “huge numbers” of infections because of the widespread presence of the mosquitoes that spread Zika and because there is no immunity among the population.
Brazil reported its first case of the virus in May 2015 and saw an explosion of cases, now numbering in the thousands, and it has been linked to microcephaly, a birth defect characterized by children born with small heads and underdeveloped brains.
With no treatment or vaccine available, the only protection against Zika is to avoid travel to areas with an active infestation.
Some 80% of those infected with Zika virus never know they have it. Still, there are major worries about dangers facing pregnant women and their babies.
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Asked about the risks for those travelling to Brazil for the summer Olympics, Fauci said aggressively controlling mosquitoes there “is probably the best way”.
