WHO: Millions in regions affected by Zika should delay pregnancy

A doctor in Brazil holds a baby with microcephaly.
(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The World Health Organization is advising millions of residents of areas where the Zika virus is spreading, as well as visitors to those areas, to consider delaying pregnancy due to birth defects tied to the disease.

Since 2007, Zika has been detected in 60 countries and territories, WHO said. The disease is usually transmitted through mosquitoes, but there is evidence it can also be transmitted via sex and it is not known how long it can be present in semen, which is why WHO says men and women of reproductive age living in affected areas should "be correctly informed and oriented to consider delaying pregnancy," The Guardian reports.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.