BBC Online :US President Barack Obama has called for urgent action against the Zika virus, which has been linked to babies being born with underdeveloped brains.He said research to develop vaccines and treatments must be speeded up.The World Health Organization says the virus is likely to spread across nearly all of the Americas.It has already been found in 21 countries in the Caribbean, North and South America. Symptoms include mild fever, conjunctivitis and headache.Medics are most worried about the damage the virus can potentially cause to babies in the womb.Brazil has recorded a huge spike in cases of microcephaly – the condition where babies are born with unusually small heads – and a number of Central and South American nations have asked women to delay pregnancy.There have been 3,893 reported cases of microcephaly in Brazil since October compared with the previous annual average of just 160 cases. “The president emphasised the need to accelerate research efforts to make available better diagnostic tests, to develop vaccines and therapeutics, and to ensure that all Americans have information about the Zika virus,” the White House said in a statement.Mr Obama was briefed on the potential spread of the virus by senior officials on Tuesday, with one recent study suggesting that the virus may affect regions where 60% of the US population lives.His spokesman said it was imperative for all Americans to have information about the virus and measures they can take to protect themselves.US National Institutes of Health Director Dr Francis Collins cited a Lancet study earlier this month in which researchers warned the virus could spread in warmer months along areas of the east and west coasts of the US and much of the Midwest, where about 200 million people live.
