WHO: possible Zika vaccines months away from broad trials

The World Health Organization says possible Zika vaccines are at least 18 months away from large-scale trials

WHO assistant director-general for health systems and innovation Marie-Paule Kieny says the U.N. health agency's response is "proceeding very quickly" and 15 companies or groups have been identified as possible participants in the hunt for vaccines.

She told reporters in Geneva Friday that WHO also believes the link between the mosquito-borne virus and abnormally small heads in some newborn children is "more and more probable."

The Zika outbreak is spreading rapidly across Latin America.

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