By Matt McMillen 

Reviewed by Hansa D. Bhargava, MD

Birth defects linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus represent an international public health emergency, the World Health Organization declared.

“There is an urgent need to do a lot more work,” said Margaret Chan, MD, director-general of the WHO. “We need a coordinated international response to make sure we get to the bottom of this.”

The declaration will speed up research into the suspected ...