Zika virus a global emergency, says UN health body

ANKARA

The Zika virus outbreak in the Americas was declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

Citing its Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, the WHO posted a Twitter message describing the Zika virus and microcephaly situation as a “Public Health Emergency of Intl concern”.

Microcephaly is a birth defect affecting brain development in fetuses that has been linked to, but not proven to be caused by, the virus.

The WHO convened an emergency committee on the mosquito-borne virus on Monday following a sharp rise in the number of Zika cases across the Americas, where thousands of people in 22 countries and territories have been infected.

There is no vaccine or treatment.