Brazil's health minister says Zika outbreak is even worse than previously thought

The Zika virus has already infected an estimated 1.5 million Brazilians, and the country's health minister said the situation is "more serious than we can imagine."

Marcelo Castro told Reuters Monday that the outbreak is worse than previously thought because most cases don't show symptoms. "Our big hope is finding a vaccine," he said. The mosquito-borne virus has no cure and has quickly spread across Latin America, and on Monday, the World Health Organization declared the Zika outbreak a global emergency. Zika was previously unknown in the Americas, and the Brazilian government believes the virus was brought to the country last year by someone from Africa or the South Pacific who attended the World Cup.

Castro told Reuters Brazil will start mandatory reporting of cases by local governments next week, when most states will have laboratories with the necessary equipment to test for Zika. Brazil is believed to be the country hit hardest by the outbreak, which is linked to thousands of cases of microcephaly in newborns. Microcephaly causes abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains, and experts say 90 percent of children born with it will have stunted mental and physical development. "The microcephaly cases are increasing by the week and we do not have an estimate of how many there will be," Castro said. "The situation is serious and worrying."

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Brazil will host the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August, but President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff told reporters not to worry about the outbreak and the influx of tourists. "We have to explain to those coming to Brazil, the athletes, that there is zero risk if you are not a pregnant woman," Jaques Wagner said.