WHO says delaying pregnancy option for women in Zika areas

WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Health Organization says women who live in areas where Zika is spreading should consider delaying pregnancy, since there's no other sure way to avoid the virus' devastating birth defects.

Around the world, health officials have advised pregnant women not to travel to areas where Zika is spreading.

[...] the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has additional advice for non-pregnant travelers:

In response to the WHO's new guidelines, the CDC said health care providers should discuss Zika's risks and how to prevent infection, and provide information about contraception.

"Give us the money so we can work with American women and children and families to monitor the effects of Zika, so we can do a better job at killing mosquitoes to protect American women, and so we can develop better tools to diagnose Zika, to control mosquitoes and ultimately, with NIH in the lead, to find a vaccine to protect women," Frieden said.

The White House on Thursday hosted a video teleconference involving administration officials, the CDC and Southern governors such as Rick Scott of Florida to go over Zika response planning as the likelihood of Zika cases is increasing with the summer heat.

The Obama administration requested $1.9 billion in February, to allow officials to continue Zika prevention efforts and begin studying long-term effects of people infected by the disease.