CDC issues Zika travel advisory for 11 Southeast Asian countries

A worker of the Ministry of Public Health and Population fumigates in the street against mosquito breeding to prevent diseases such as malaria, dengue and Zika, during a fumigation campaign in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Copyright Reuters 2016)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has issued a travel advisory urging pregnant women to postpone non-essential travel to 11 Southeast Asian countries in connection with the Zika virus.

The 11 countries are Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam.

Zika, which is mainly a mosquito-borne disease, was first detected in Brazil last year and has been spreading globally.