The Zika virus is likely to spread to all but two countries in the Americas – including the USA, the World Health Organisation warned yesterday.
It said only Chile and Canada could hope to be free of it because they are the only two countries that do not have the carrier mosquitoes.
WHO warned the virus was taking hold because local populations lack immunity to the virus, which has been blamed for an outbreak of microcephaly <!children born with small heads> in Brazil.
It called on people living in mosquito affected areas to take precautions by using insect repellent, wearing clothes covering the body and by using barriers and mosquito nets.
It also called for steps to eliminate breeding sites – and this includes getting rid of small puddles of water that they might use.
The advice stops short of advice given by some South America governments that women should defer pregnancy.
It says: “Any decision to defer pregnancy is an individual one between a woman, her partner and her healthcare provider.”
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