The Philippines’ health secretary has urged women to delay pregnancy until more is known about the mosquito-borne Zika virus raging in Latin America, even though the country’s only reported case of zika was four years ago.
Much remains unknown about Zika, but the virus has been linked to thousands of cases of birth defects in Latin America, and the World Health Organisation has declared an international public health emergency.
“To those who are not in a hurry to get pregnant, maybe they can postpone and wait next year when we know more about the virus,” Health Secretary Janette Garin said suggesting they practice family planning methods.
Garin, who is also a physician, said she was also asking Filipinos to avoid Zika-affected countries because “travellers, who contracted the disease abroad, may then transmit the virus sexually to their partners”.
The scare over Zika has been heightened by warnings from the Pan American Health Organisation that in a few cases the virus could have been sexually transmitted.