AKIPRESS.COM - An emergency meeting of the World Health Organization is being held to discuss the "explosive" spread of the Zika virus.

The meeting in Geneva will decide whether to declare a global emergency, reports BBC.

WHO officials have described Zika as moving "from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions".

Most cases will have no symptoms but the virus has been linked to brain abnormalities in thousands of babies, mainly in South America.

Declaring a "public health emergency of international concern" would establish Zika as a serious global threat and lead to money, resources and scientific expertise being thrown at the problem both in South America and in laboratories around the world.

The WHO's actions are under intense scrutiny after its handling of the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.

Its efforts to prevent the spread of the virus were widely criticised and it was deemed to have been too slow to declare an emergency.