MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Peru has declared a health emergency in 11 of its 25 regions amid the spread of the Zika virus, the country’s health authorities said.
"A health emergency is being declared for 90 days the departments of Loreto, Cajamarca, Ucayali, San Martin, Tumbes, Huanuco, La Libertad, Amazonas, Piura, Lambayeque, and part of Lima," the official El Peruano gazette said on Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Health.
Over 100 cases of Zika have been reported in Peru, more than 30 of the infected are pregnant women, according to the country’s Ministry of Health.
The current Zika outbreak started in Brazil in the spring of 2015. The Zika virus is transmitted by daytime-active mosquitoes. It does not cause serious complications in adults but is suspected to cause severe brain defects and microcephaly in newborns.
