An inter-ministerial Zika preparedness working group is being set up in Malta, health parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne said.

He said in a tweet this evening that the Opposition will also be taking part.

The World Health Organisation is warning the mosquito-borne Zika virus is “spreading explosively” and may infect up to four million people, but the chances of it reaching Malta are low.

The virus is spread by mosquitoes of the Aedes species, a genus of mosquitoes found all over the world except Antarctica. Originally limited to tropical and subtropical zones, the species has spread as a result of human activity.

Aedes mosquitoes are known vectors for numerous viral infections and apart from the Zika virus they also transmit other diseases, including dengue fever and yellow fever.

Last week, the World Health Organisation said European countries should start preparing now to protect their populations against the virus, which has never been transmitted in Europe but could spread with the onset of spring and summer.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.