The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday that $56 million (Rs 383.5 crore) were needed to prevent the spread of the Zika virus until June this year. The funds are needed to fast-track work on vaccines, for diagnostics and to conduct further research on how it spreads, it said. While the United Nations health agency expects member states and other donors to contribute to the fund, it has dipped into a new emergency contingency fund of $2 million (Rs 13.7 crore) to finance its work for the time being, reported Reuters.

The mosquito-borne disease has spread to 39 countries, including 34 in the Americas, and has been linked to birth defects in Brazil. WHO director-general Margaret Chan said, "Possible links with neurological complications and birth malformations have rapidly changed the risk profile for Zika from a mild threat to one of very serious proportions." Earlier this month, WHO declared the Zika outbreak an international public health emergency.