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Health Ministry employees fumigate a home against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, transmitter of the Zika virus, at La Comuna II neighborhood in Guatemala City on Feb. 5, 2016. 548585565(Photo: Johan Ordonez, AFP/Getty Images)
More than 3,100 pregnant<span style="color: Red;">*</span>women in Colombia are infected with Zika, but the country reports no cases yet of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the rare birth defect microcephaly,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Colombian President Juan Manuel<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Santos said Saturday.
Santos confirmed more<span style="color: Red;">*</span>than 25,000 people were infected with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the virus overall in the country, the Colombian newspaper<span style="color: Red;">*</span>El Tiempo reported. "We<span style="color: Red;">*</span>are projected to reach 600,000 cases before the epidemic reaches its ceiling,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he added.
An analysis of Zika cases found a 66% increase<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of Guillain-Barre, a rare nerve disorder<span style="color: Red;">*</span>linked to the virus,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but none of microcephaly, a defect in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>which babies are born with abnormally<span style="color: Red;">*</span>small skulls, Santos said. Health officials said three people in the country died from Guillain-Barre<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after contracting Zika.
USA TODAY
Zika primer: Guide to invasion of a mosquito virus that causes birth defects
Earlier this week, the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>World Health Organization<span style="color: Red;">*</span>declared a global<span style="color: Red;">*</span>health emergency after Brazilian authorities linked Zika to microcephaly. The virus is currently spreading in at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>least 29 countries, mainly in Latin American<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and the Caribbean.
Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos is shown in a photo provided by the president meeting in Bogota Feb. 6, 2016 with with health services authorities to discuss the spread of the Zika virus.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Juan Pablo Bello / Presidencia de Colombia, EPA)
The Zika virus is primarily transmitted<span style="color: Red;">*</span>by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Aedes<span style="color: Red;">*</span>aegypti<span style="color: Red;">*</span>mosquito. Scientists in Brazil said Friday that they found the virus<span style="color: Red;">*</span>can be “active” in the saliva and urine of infected people, raising fears it could<span style="color: Red;">*</span>also be<span style="color: Red;">*</span>transmitted through bodily fluids.
Since the latest outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil last August, the Brazilian government has confirmed 404 cases of microcephaly, according to Frontline.
Santos<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said at a news conference that state and local authorities are working to reduce the mosquito population<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to cut down on the spread of the virus. He said authorities will be increasing fumigation projects and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>helping families eliminate stagnant water, a chief breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Health Ministry employees fumigate against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, carrier of the Zika virus, n Guatemala City on Feb. 5, 2016. The World Health Organization says the virus has spread to almost 30 countries.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Johan Ordonez, AFP/Getty Images)
The Colombian<span style="color: Red;">*</span>province of Norte de Santander reported<span style="color: Red;">*</span>nearly 5,000 cases of the virus, more than any other in the country, an epidemiological bulletin from the national health institute shows, Reuters reported.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights this week<span style="color: Red;">*</span>called on countries facing the spread of the Zika virus to repeal laws limiting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>access to contraception<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>abortion.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>El Tiempo<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reported representatives of the Catholic Church in Colombia called the U.N. position "appalling" and urged the government to reject it.
Colombian health minister Alejandro Gaviria said Friday that Colombia has considerable experience in family<span style="color: Red;">*</span>planning. "The majority of the population knows methods of birth control," Gaviria said.
He emphasized there is no definitive link between the Zika virus and microcephaly. "The relationship is not Zika and abortion; it is microcephaly and abortion,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he said.
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