SEREMBAN: The Health Ministry will release a set of comprehensive guidelines on how to prevent the spread of the Zika virus within the next two days.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the guidelines will include steps from the ministry and an advisory for the public on how to tackle the virus.

“The ministry views the matter seriously as the vector of the Zika virus is the Aedes mosquitoe which already exists in the country.

“The other challenges are that those who are affected show little to no symptoms.

There is also the fact that currently, there are no vaccines for the disease,” he told a press conference after officiating a calories awareness campaign here, today.

He also advised Malaysians not to travel to South America where the virus is spreading fast.

Zika has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation as the number of suspected birth defects linked to the mosquito-borne virus has risen into the thousands.-nst