On Tuesday, the World Health Organization warned expectant women against traveling to Zika-affected areas. The same warning was given by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over a month back.

Director General Margaret Chan said they have gone through the reports and investigations from Zika-hit countries in the Americas, and that they all have strongly suggested that sexual transmission is more common than assumed earlier.

In a media telebriefing, pressure was put on WHO officials over why they didn’t issue a travel warning earlier. Besides the guidance by the CDC, health agencies in many nations have asked pregnant women and their sexual partners to stay away from the areas where the virus has spread. They have been advised to engage in safe sex only or to avoid sex during the pregnancy period.

An infectious disease specialist David Heymann, who is leading the WHO emergency committee on Zika, has pointed towards the mounting proof that is relating the pathogen to birth defects and neurological disorders among adults.

Heymann said that they felt the need to make this recommendation, so they have made their recommendations. He added that it depends on individual nations to designate areas where there are ongoing outbreaks, and where there aren’t.

The previous month, Zika and its suspected fetal dangers were declared to be a global public health emergency by the WHO.

Chan said that since the declaration has been made, substantial latest clinical and epidemiological study has pointed towards strong link between the infection and microcephaly and other neurological disorders. Microcephaly has mainly hit Brazil. It is an uncommon congenital condition wherein babies are delivered with abnormally tiny heads and mostly with underdeveloped brains.

Chan mentioned, “The geographical distribution of the disease is wider. The risk group is broader. And the modes of transmission now include sexual intercourse as well as mosquito bites”.