Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has invited all nations in Latin America and the Caribbean to discuss ways to join forces to cope with the rapid spread of the Zika virus and declared war on the mosquito that carries it.
Rousseff told reporters covering the Wednesday summit meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Quito, Ecuador that the meeting is being held Feb. 2 in Montevideo, Uruguay.
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She said she was proposing to open up to the other nations at a gathering of health ministers of the regional Mercosur trade bloc.
On Twitter, Rousseff said "we must declare war on the Aedes aegypti mosquito" that carries the virus, a war that will focus on eliminating the insect's breeding grounds until a vaccine is developed.
"We are going to focus on eliminating all the pools of standing water where the Aedes live and reproduce." Rousseff tweeted.