Brazil says pregnant women should ask doctor before visiting

Brazil said on Monday pregnant women should consult their doctors before traveling to the South American country but no other restrictions were necessary regarding the mosquito-borne Zika virus, eight months before the nation hosts the Olympic games.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that a travel warning from U.S. health officials on Friday reinforced precautionary measures already adopted by Brazil, such as recommending bug spray and long sleeves to protect against mosquitoes.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said pregnant women should not travel to 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America as Zika has been linked to serious birth defects.

The warning comes 200 days before Brazil hosts the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The government expects between 350,000 and 500,000 visitors for the first Olympics ever held in South America.

Brazil’s health ministry confirmed the Zika virus was
linked to a form of fetal brain damage in November after a surge of babies in the country’s impoverished Northeast were born with microcephaly, or an unnaturally small brain.

The government has declared a national public health emergency to ramp up control and prevention measures.