SAO PAULO (AP) - Brazil's president promised a wary nation on Tuesday that no resources would be spared in the fight against Zika, addressing Congress a day after the World Health Organization declared the mosquito-borne virus an international emergency.
A spike in the number of Brazilian babies born with brain defects and abnormally small heads has been linked to their mother's contracting the virus during pregnancy. Several thousand cases of microcephaly have been reported in Brazil since October, although researchers have so far not proven a definitive link to the virus. No vaccine or cure exists for Zika.
"We should all be worried about microcephaly," Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff said. Before the Zika virus started grabbing international attention, Brazil was already struggling to prepare for this summer's Olympic Games, set to begin in August in Rio de Janeiro. Constructions projects have started and stopped, and questions have been raised about the safety of athletes after an Associated Press investigation found alarmingly high levels of bacteria and viruses in water bodies where competitions will take place.