RIO DE JANEIRO—The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that she has been impressed by the Brazilian government’s handling of the Zika virus outbreak.
Speaking at a news conference, Dr. Margaret Chan praised the government’s commitment to tackling the disease, its transparency and its willingness to collaborate at both national and international levels. But she also warned that the situation could get worse before it gets better.
Chan’s comments came at the end of a two-day visit to Brazil during which she met with President Dilma Rousseff and senior Cabinet ministers to discuss the government’s strategy for handling the Zika outbreak.
Earlier in the day, Chan visited a hospital and clinical research center in Recife, a city at the epicenter of the Zika surge, which Brazilian researchers suspect is linked to an apparent increase in a rare birth defect.
