There is no vaccine or treatment for the condition, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, causing fever, rash and red eyes
The World Health Organization has been warned by leading scientists that the Zika virus has "explosive pandemic potential".
It will hold a special session today as the United Nations body comes under pressure for quick action against the infection linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil.
In recent weeks experts have confirmed that the virus is spreading through Latin America and the Caribbean, and fears have mounted that the mosquitoes which carry the virus are already in the United Kingdom. And countries are already taking steps to limit how it can spread.
The United States said it will block people who have visited regions impacted by the virus from donating blood.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said her country must wage war against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the virus, focusing on getting rid of the insect's breeding grounds.
The mosquito thrives in dense tropical cities, and Rousseff called for the elimination of stagnant water spots where it lives and reproduces.
Now scientists are urging the United Nations to label Zika a serious health crisis that endangers international public health.
The World Health Organisation's leadership admitted last April to serious missteps in its handling of the Ebola crisis, which was focused mostly on three West African countries and killed more than 10,000 people.
Some critics have said their slow response played a major role in allowing the epidemic to balloon into the worst Ebola outbreak on record.
Airlines are reacting to concern among pregnant women about travel to affected countries.
Chile-based LATAM Airlines , Latin America's largest carrier, said it would offer refunds or the opportunity to change destination to pregnant women and their traveling companions with international flights booked to Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and other affected countries.
Worry: A pregnant woman waits to be attended at the Maternal and Children's Hospital in Tegucigalpa
US airline United Airlines expanded its program allowing customers with reserved tickets for travel to impacted regions to postpone their trips or obtain refunds with no penalty.
A tropical climate, dense cities, poor sanitation and slipshod construction provided ideal conditions for mosquito breeding grounds and the spread of the Zika virus in Brazil's northeast, across the country and to more than 20 others throughout the Americas.
Pandemic warning: This is where the Zika Virus has spread There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya and causes mild fever, rash and red eyes.
An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.
Source: The Mirror
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