DHAKA: The World Health Organization has set up a Zika "emergency team" after the "explosive" spread of the virus.

It predicts three to four million people will be infected in the Americas this year, although most will not develop symptoms, reports the BBC.

The infection has been linked to brain defects in babies.

WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan said Zika had gone "from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions" and was having a "heart-breaking" impact.

The team will meet on Monday to decide whether Zika should be treated as a global emergency.

The last time an international emergency was declared was for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa which has killed more than 11,000 people.

Zika was first detected in Uganda in 1947, but has never caused an outbreak on this scale.

Brazil reported the first cases of Zika in South America in May 2015.

Most cases result in no symptoms and it is hard to test for, but WHO officials said an estimated 1.5 million people had been infected in the country.

The virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, has since spread to more than 20 countries in the region.

BDST: 2057 HRS, JAN 28, 2016
RS