WHO declares Zika an 'International Public Health Emergency'

The World Health Organisation has declared the mosquito-borne Zika virus to be a global emergency. Image: Prof David L. Heymann (L), Chair of the Emergency Committee, and Margaret Chan (R), WHO General Director (AAP)

The decision comes as the disease linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil spreads rapidly.

 

The Zika virus is continuing its spread across the Americas with the number of pregnant women infected in Colombia doubling in a week.

 

More than 2,000 pregnant women in Colombia have the virus, which has been linked to babies born with abnormally small