Zika Virus: WHO issues official travel warning to pregnant women advising them not to visit outbreak areas

The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised pregnant women not to travel to areas affected by the Zika virus outbreak, amid mounting evidence Zika can cause birth defects. 

"Pregnant women should be advised not travel to areas of ongoing Zika virus outbreaks," the UN agency said in a statement released after an emergency committee meeting on the rapid spread of the mosquito-borne virus.

Previous WHO guidelines called for pregnant to be warned of the risk of travel to Zika-hit areas.

WHO noted the link between Zika and microcephaly, a severe deformation of the brain among newborns, has not yet been definitively proven.

But WHO chief Margaret Chan told reporters "we do not have to wait until we have definitive proof" before advising pregnant women against travel.

"Microcephaly is now only one of several documented birth abnormalities associated with Zika infection during pregnancy," she said.

"Grave outcomes include foetal death, placental insufficiency, foetal growth retardation, and injury to the central nervous system."

Chan described the latest research on Zika as "alarming", including growing evidence the virus causes the severe neurological disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

According to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade the Zika virus is active in the following countries:

American Samoa

Aruba

Barbados

Bolivia

Brazil

Colombia

Cape Verde

Costa Rica

Curaçao

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

French Guiana

Guadelope

Guatemala

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Marshall Islands

Martinique

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Puerto Rico

Saint Martin

Sint Maarten

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

Suriname

Thailand

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

US Virgin Islands

Venezuela