GSK evaluating possibility of using vaccine technology for Zika

The GlaxoSmithKline logo is seen at the entrance of a building in Luxembourg, September 10, 2013. REUTERS/Yves Herman (Copyright Reuters 2016)

GlaxoSmithKline Plc is concluding "feasibility" studies to see if its vaccine technology might be suitable for the Zika virus, a company spokeswoman told Reuters.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has been linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil, is likely to spread to all countries in the Americas, except for Canada and Chile, the World Health Organization estimated on Monday.

Zika has not yet been reported in the continental United States, although a woman who fell ill with the virus in Brazil later gave birth to a brain-damaged baby in Hawaii.

GlaxoSmithKline declined to provide any more detail.