The Luxembourg Ministry of Health has issued new recommendations to protect pregnant women from the Zika virus after it was determined that a case in the US was sexually transmitted.

The Ministry of Health has joined other European countries in advising men who have resided or travelled in a Zika-affected area and whose partner is pregnant to abstain from sexual activity with their partner or to correctly and consistently use a condom during sex until the end of the pregnancy.

The Ministry urged those who could be affected to exercise caution, highlighting the risk of microencephaly that a child born from a Zika-infected mother could face. Microencephaly could cause malformations of the embryo's central nervous system which in turn could lead to incomplete brain development in the child.

Luxembourg's health authorities also reiterated its recommendation that pregnant women avoid travelling in the countries concerned, and stated it would update its advice as knowledge on the Zika virus evolves.

More information can be found on the World Health Organisation website at www.who.int/fr/