--- title: Zika Virus Likely Spread Americas: World Health Organization description: The WHO released a statement on Jan. 24 about the spread of Zika canonical: https://time.com/4192338/zika-virus-who-mosquito/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-25T14:55:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:24:22.826Z article:section: Health og:title: Zika Virus Likely Spread Americas: World Health Organization og:description: The World Health Organization released a Jan. 24 warning. og:url: https://time.com/4192338/zika-virus-who-mosquito/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d18cf60d8d9aeaa/69887a75524fc05e4ddf66e8/zika-virus-spread-across-norht-south-america-who.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4272 og:image:height: 2403 og:image:alt: zika virus spread across norht south america who og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Zika Virus Likely Spread Americas: World Health Organization twitter:description: The World Health Organization released a Jan. 24 warning. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d18cf60d8d9aeaa/69887a75524fc05e4ddf66e8/zika-virus-spread-across-norht-south-america-who.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # WHO Warns Zika Virus 'Likely' to Spread to U.S. > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jan 25, 2016 2:55 PM UTC  Aedes aegypti Aedes aegypti Joao Paulo Burini—Getty Images/Flickr  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jan 25, 2016 2:55 PM UTC The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the mosquito-borne [Zika virus](http://time.com/4176167/zika-virus-what-to-know/) will likely reach nearly all of North and South America. The WHO explained in a [statement](http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com%5Fcontent&view=article&id=11605&Itemid=0&lang=en) Monday that the virus — which has been linked to birth defects — is set to spread across the Americas because the populations have not been exposed to the virus before. The statement said “Zika virus will continue to spread and will likely reach all countries and territories of the region where Aedes mosquitoes are found” — that includes all of the Americas except Canada and Chile. Zika has already reached 21 territories and countries in North and South America. As well as causing headaches, fever and conjunctivitis, it has been suspected of contributing to a [surge in birth defects](http://time.com/4189782/brazil-microcephaly-zika-virus-babies/) that causes babies to be born with uncommonly small heads. U.S. officials are currently [pushing to develop](http://time.com/4188973/zika-virus-vaccine-nih/) a vaccine for the Zika virus. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4192338/zika-virus-who-mosquito/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4192338/zika-virus-who-mosquito/"},"headline":"WHO Warns Zika Virus 'Likely' to Spread to U.S.","datePublished":"2016-01-25T14:55:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:24:22.826Z","description":"The WHO released a statement on Jan. 24 about the spread of Zika","url":"https://time.com/4192338/zika-virus-who-mosquito/","keywords":["diseases","Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d18cf60d8d9aeaa/69887a75524fc05e4ddf66e8/zika-virus-spread-across-norht-south-america-who.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d18cf60d8d9aeaa/69887a75524fc05e4ddf66e8/zika-virus-spread-across-norht-south-america-who.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"zika virus spread across norht south america who","caption":"zika virus spread across norht south america who","creditText":"Joao Paulo Burini—Getty Images/Flickr","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/diseases/","name":"diseases"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4192338/zika-virus-who-mosquito/","name":"WHO Warns Zika Virus 'Likely' to Spread to U.S."}}]}] ```