WHO to hold emergency meeting on Zika virus today

February 01, 2016 10:41

The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting Monday to decide whether the Zika virus outbreak suspected of causing a surge in serious birth defects in South America should be considered a global health emergency.

The WHO Director-General Margaret Chan last week warned that the disease had gone from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions in the Americas, adding that region might see up to four million cases this year.

The UN health agency is under pressure to act quickly in the fight against Zika, after admitting it was slow to respond to the recent Ebola outbreak that ravaged parts of west Africa.

Jitters over Zika have spread far beyond the affected areas to Europe and North America, where dozens of cases have been identified among people returning from vacation or business abroad.

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