Why El Salvador Is Telling Women Not To Get Pregnant Until 2018

El Salvador has become the latest region to take extreme measures to help slow the spread of Zika Virus, a mosquito-borne disease that can severely affect the development of an unborn baby.

Officials there have warned women that the threat of their babies being brain damaged by the virus is so large that it is safer to avoid pregnancy entirely until 2018. Women in Jamaica, Equador and Colombia have also been advised to delay pregnancy where possible to avoid a situation such as the worsening one in Brazil, where it is estimated up to 4,000 infants have been born with microcephaly, a congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development, after their mothers contracted the virus during pregnancy. The news comes as the first cases were reported in the UK this weekend. All three of the patients affected had travelled to Colombia, Suriname and Guyana. Click here for a full list of destinations to avoid if you are pregnant. For more information, see the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.