Brazil is leading the war in Latin America against the fast-spreading Zika virus, as the region is racing to contain the mosquito-borne disease.

In late January, the virus, which can lead to birth defects and paralysis, was found linked to a sudden surge in Brazil in cases of microcephaly, or infants born with abnormally small heads.

Health employees take part in a spraying day against the Aedes Aegypty mosquito, borne of the Zika virus, in El Valle in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, Jan 28, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

CLEAN-UP EFFORTS UNDERWAY

With more than 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly, Brazil has launched a military campaign to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits viruses including Zika, dengue and dengue-like chikungunya.

Military organizations and civil servants around the country have been recruited to help destroy the mosquito's breeding grounds.

Local media said Brazil's Ministry of Defense has spurred "all 1,200 military organizations across the country into action," while "the federal government has mobilized civil servants" to prevent the Zika virus from spreading.

The "clean-up" efforts focus on government buildings and state-run companies as well as hospitals that form parts of the Unified Health System (SUS), Brazilian news agency EBC said.

The campaign will target hospitals on Wednesday, according to the EBC, followed by "a national mobilization" on Feb. 13 that will see "nearly 220,000 members of the army, navy, and air force ... go door-to-door to inspect Brazilian residences."

"We want to encourage society to help in this cause," the agency cited Health Minister Marcelo Castro as saying.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff convened with ministers Friday to coordinate actions to combat the mosquito, and spoke with "state governors about the national mobilization against Aedes aegypti" via video conference.

"We'll have to make a mobilization effort that is three times larger than we did with dengue," Rousseff said. "Zika is not a flu."

Despite Brazil's economic woes, Rousseff pledged the government will spend what it takes on the clean-ups as it "has to do with the country's public health."

"There will be no belt-tightening, nor limits," she said. "We will employ all our resources."

EXPLOSIVE SPREAD

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan has called for an emergency meeting on Zika to be held Monday in Geneva to decide whether the "outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern."

Zika, originating from Africa, is believed to have entered Latin America via Brazil, which reported its first case of the disease in May 2015.

"It is now spreading explosively," Chan said Thursday.

In neighboring Colombia, health authorities on Sunday said the number of people infected by Zika has exceeded 20,000, including 2,116 pregnant women.

The situation has made Colombia, which was among the first countries in the region to recommend women delay pregnancy until the epidemic subsides, the second most affected country, only behind Brazil.

So far, cases of infection have been reported in 23 Latin American countries, where the virus is also associated with a spike in Guillain-Barre syndrome, a condition where the immune system attacks the nervous system, sometimes leading to paralysis.

The WHO predicted that by 2017, as many as 4 million people in the Americas could be infected by the virus.

But Canada is expected to be spared due to its low temperatures, according to the WHO.

So is Chile. The South American country is protected by the Atacama Desert, one of the world's driest places, the Andes mountain range and the Pacific Ocean, the WHO said.

On Friday, Rousseff spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama over the phone. Obama expressed concern over the spread of the virus.

"President Dilma and President Obama agreed on the creation of a high-level group between Brazil and the United States, to develop a partnership for the production of vaccines" to combat Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases, Rousseff's office said.

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