Colombia's National Health Institute on Saturday said that at least 2,116 pregnant women have been infected with the Zika virus in the country, reported Al Jazeera. The South American country is the second most affected in the region with 20,297 cases of the infection, of which, 63% are women.

The mosquito-borne virus is believed to be linked to a surge in cases of an untreatable condition called microcephaly, in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head or brain. There is no prospect of a vaccine for Zika at present as it will have to be tested on pregnant women, which poses practical and ethical problems. The World Health Organisation, which had warned that the virus is "spreading explosively" in the Americas, will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to decide whether the Zika threat should be rated a global health crisis, reported The Guardian.