WHO expects Zika-linked birth defects beyond Brazil

GENEVA (Reuters) - Other countries in the Americas are likely to see birth defects linked to the Zika virus, the head of the World Health Organization's Americas arm told Reuters on Thursday. "Certainly in the Americas, Brazil is the first country with a massive outbreak of Zika and the other countries are now beginning their outbreaks so if we are going to see microcephaly we have to wait for 9 months," said Carissa Etienne, Regional-Director for the WHO Pan American Health Organization. "We don’t know if Zika causes microcephaly but that is our guess, that we are going to see microcephaly because of Zika," she said, referring to the brain damage in babies born with small heads. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Alison Williams)