WHO calls for special meeting over Zika virus

The World Health Organization (WHO) readies to meet at a special meeting on Feb. 1 to decide if they should declare an international health emergency for the Zika virus, which is "spreading explosively" in the Americas and could see up to 4 million cases over the next year, international health officials said Jan. 28. 

The warning from the WHO came amid a call to arms by officials on both sides of the Atlantic over the mosquito-borne virus, which has been linked to a spike in a rare birth defect in Brazil.

Brazil's president - noting there is no medical defense against the infection - called for a crusade against the mosquitoes spreading it.

"As long as we don't have a vaccine against Zika virus, the war must be focused on exterminating the mosquito's breeding areas," said President Dilma Rousseff, according to the Associated Press.

The U.N. health agency called the special session in part to convey its concern about an illness that has sown fear among many would-be mothers. It may also have acted quickly because the agency was criticized for its slow response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

Meanwhile, U.S. health officials said Thursday while they have not yet seen spread of the disease in the 50 states, the number of U.S. travelers infected over the last year in the Caribbean or Latin America has climbed to 31.

The Zika virus was first discovered in Africa in 1947. But until last year, when it was found in Brazil, it had never been a threat in the Western Hemisphere.

The virus causes no more than a mild illness in most people. But there is mounting evidence from Brazil suggesting infection in pregnant women is linked to abnormally small heads in their babies - a birth defect called microcephaly....