Scientists have urged the World Health Organisation to learn from the Ebola outbreak and take immediately action on combating Zika virus warning it has ‘explosive pandemic potential’.

The US experts claim WHO has still not taken a leadership role in dealing with the Zika pandemic and advised it convene an emergency committee of disease experts.

They also claim that it is urgent to act immediately particularly given the upcoming 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the article in the Journal of the American Medical Association mentions.

WHO, however, argues it had set up measures to fight the spread of the virus, including surveillance, laboratories for testing, clinical care and vector control – killing off the mosquitoes spreading the infection.

The virus is carried by mosquitoes and has recently spread through the Caribbean and Latin America and particularly Brazil, where only in the past 12 months there have been reported about 4,000 cases of babies being born with abnormally small heads. The Zika virus has been blamed for causing severe brain damage to newborn babies.

Brazilian President, Dilma Roussef, has urged Latin America to pull together to combat the virus saying that sharing knowledge between Latin American countries is the best way to combat the epidemic.

Moreover, women in Latin America have been urged by the El Salvador government not to get pregnant for as long as two years, in an attempt to avoid the birth defects which are associated with the virus. While those who are already pregnant are advised to stay covered when they are outdoors to reduce the risk of being bitten by infected mosquitoes.

The symptoms include flu-like aches, joint pain, rashes, itching, and inflammation of the eyes and headaches, but the government stresses that not everyone has symptoms.

There is currently no vaccine for the virus, while the best way to prevent the virus spreading is to clear stagnant water and to protect against bites.