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The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus a world health emergency Monday after the first meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee in Geneva, Switzerland.
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WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan: #ZikaVirus & #microcephaly situation is a Public Health Emergency of Intl Concern #alert
— WHO (@WHO)
February 1, 2016
During the meeting at WHO headquarters, the committee decided to declare the "explosive" spread of the Zika virus a global emergency.
While the committee acknowledge there is no proven link between Zika and microcephaly, a disorder that causes abnormally small heads in newborns, the committee advised that the association between Zika and the condition constitutes an “extraordinary event.”
WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said that the most important step was to control the spread of mosquitos and prevent bites.
Dr Heymann: Not known how long it will take to find link between #ZikaVirus and #Microcephaly
— WHO (@WHO)
February 1, 2016
Other experts present advised women of childbearing age to stay away from Zika-prone areas.
Dr Aylward: All women of child bearing age must have all necessary information abt risk related to #ZikaVirus, materials to reduce risks
— WHO (@WHO) February 1, 2016
The select committee, comprised of experts in disease control, virology and vaccine development, briefed senior officials at the meeting at WHO headquarters amid an alarming rise in the number of Zika cases across the Americas.
As a "public health emergency of international concern," the mosquito-borne infection will now be classed as a serious global threat.
It will lead to more money, resources and scientific expertise to be thrown at the problem in Latin America and in laboratories around the world.
RELATED: More than 2,000 Pregnant Women Infected with Zika in Colombia
"An emergency declaration by WHO is a spotlight on the issue, telling the world that this is something the world needs to pay attention to," Susan Kim, deputy director of Georgetown University's O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law in Washington, told USA Today.
WHO’s Director-General Dr Margaret Chan said at briefing in Geneva last week that the virus is "spreading explosively" and that organization needs to "get some answers quickly."
"I am asking the committee for advice on the appropriate level of international concern and for recommended measures that should be undertaken in affected countries and elsewhere" she added.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan to convene an Intl Health Regulations Emergency Committee on #ZikaVirus pic.twitter.com/XqB9mSlLKn
— WHO (@WHO)
January 28, 2016
The Zika virus has been linked, although not definitively, to 4,000 cases of microcephaly, a birth defect that causes babies to be born with smaller than normal brains.
Approximately 3,400 microcephaly cases have been recorded in Brazil and the virus is said to be spreading across the Americas.
Health officials in Colombia reported Friday more than 20,000 cases of the fever, making it the second-worst affected country after Brazil, where the infection originated.
WATCH: The Daily Brief: 'Latin America must fight Zika'
