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The World Health Organization and other national health agencies are warning that the current Zika virus outbreak is likely to spread throughout nearly all the Americas. Alerts are being issued warning of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, carrier of the Zika virus which might cause microcephaly and Guillain-Barr syndrome, a condition that causes the immune system to attack ones own nerves. Last year, there was a sharp increase in the number of babies born with microcephaly, in parts of Brazil affected by the Zika virus (2,700 newborns affected in 2015, compared to fewer than 150 in 2014.) The condition results in an abnormally small head in newborns and is associated with various disorders including decreased brain development. Zika has now spread to every country in the Americas, except Chile and Canadawith at least a dozen cases in the United States confirmed by the CDC. While research is being done to verify the link between Zika and microcephaly, authorities in several countries have advised couples to avoid pregnancy for the time being.Fighting the Zika Virus

A Health Ministry employee fumigates a home against the Aedes aegypti mosquito to prevent the spread of the Zika virus, in Soyapango, 6 kilometers east of San Salvador, El Salvador, on January 27, 2016.

Dr. Angela Rocha, pediatric infectologist at Oswaldo Cruz Hospital, examines Ludmilla Hadassa Dias de Vasconcelos (two months old), who has microcephaly, on January 26, 2016 in Recife, Brazil. In the last four months, authorities have recorded close to 4,000 cases in Brazil in which the mosquito-borne Zika virus may have led to microcephaly in infants.

A health worker shows larvae of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes found inside a warehouse during an operation to combat the mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, on January 26, 2016

The forearm of a public health technician, covered with sterile female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes after leaving a recipient to cultivate larvae, in a research area to prevent the spread of Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases, at the entomology department of the Ministry of Public Health, in Guatemala City, on January 26, 2016.

A specialist fumigates the Nueva Esperanza graveyard in the outskirts of Lima, Peru, on January 15, 2016. Health officials fumigated the largest cementery in Peru and second largest in the world to prevent Chikunguya and Zika virus.

A man walks through the fumes as Health Ministry employee fumigate against the Aedes aegypti mosquito in Soyapango, El Salvador, on January 21, 2016.

In this December 23, 2015 photo, Solange Ferreira bathes her son Jose Wesley in a bucket at their house in Poco Fundo, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Ferreira says her son enjoys being in the water, she places him in the bucket several times a day to calm him.

Children react near a municipal worker spraying insecticide at the neighborhood of Imbiribeira in Recife, Brazil, on January 26, 2016. The operation is part of the city's effort to prevent the spread of Zika's vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, according to a statement from the Municipal Health Secretary.

A worker uses a forklift to store abandoned tires, to remove potential breeding spots for mosquitoes transmitting Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases, at a temporary collection center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on January 27, 2016. Puerto Rico will release a report on Zika cases on the island this week which will show that around 18 cases are confirmed, Puerto Ricos health secretary, Ana Rius told reporters.

A pick-up truck from the Department of Health drives past fumigating the neighborhood to prevent the spread of Zika virus in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on January 27, 2016.

Matheus Lima, 22, and Kleisse Marcelina, 24, tend to their two-month-old son Pietro suffering from microcephaly, at the Obras Sociais Irma Dulce hospital in Salvador, Brazil, on January 27, 2016.

Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae sit in a petri dish at the Fiocruz Institute in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, on January 27, 2016.

In this January 18, 2016, photo, a female Aedes aegypti mosquito acquires a blood meal on the arm of a researcher at the Biomedical Sciences Institute in the Sao Paulo's University in Sao Paulo, Brazil

A Health Ministry employee fumigates a home against the Aedes aegypti mosquito in Soyapango, El Salvador, on January 21, 2016.

Pregnant woman Angelica Prato, infected by the Zika virus, is attended at the Erasmo Meoz University Hospital in Cucuta, Colombia, on January 25, 2016

Colombia's Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria, right, explains possible health complications associated with the Zika virus during an event to launch a nationwide prevention campaign in Ibague, Colombia, on January 26, 2016. Gaviria said the mosquito-borne Zika virus has already infected more than 16,000 people in Colombia and could hit more than half a million throughout the country.

A patient suffering from the Guillain-Barre neurological syndrome recovers in the neurology ward of the Rosales National Hospital in San Salvador on January 27, 2016. Health authorities have issued a national alert against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, vector of the Zika virus which might cause microcephaly and Guillain-Barr syndromea condition where ones immune system attacks ones own nerves.

Gleyse Kelly da Silva, 27, holds her daughter Maria Giovanna, who was born with microcephaly, outside their house in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, on January 27, 2016.

Municipal workers sprays insecticide in the Imbiribeira neighborhood in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, on January 26, 2016.

A municipal health worker fumigates a home as part of the city's effort to prevent the spread of Zika virus in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on January 26, 2016.

Carmen Chicas Mejia, 82, covers her mouth and nose while city workers fumigate her home in the San Judas Community in San Salvador, El Salvador, on January 26, 2016.

Dejailson Arruda holds his daughter Luiza at their house in Santa Cruz do Capibaribe, Pernambuco, Brazil, on December 23, 2015

A health worker stands in the Sambadrome as he sprays insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 26, 2016. Inspectors begin to spray insecticide around Sambadrome, the outdoor grounds where thousands of dancers and musicians will parade during the city's Carnival celebrations. Brazil's health minister says the country will mobilize some 220,000 troops to battle the mosquito species blamed for spreading a virus linked to birth defects.

Jessica holds her son Icaro Luis, born with microcephaly, as they wait for physical therapist Isana Santana, at Obras Socias Irma Dulce hospital in Salvador, Brazil, on January 28, 2016.

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