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Pregnant women should not travel to Brazil for the Olympics because of the risk posed by the Zika virus, suspected of causing fetal brain damage, President Dilma Rousseff’s chief of staff said Monday, according to Capitalfm  reports, citing AFP news agency

“The risk, which I would say is serious, is for pregnant women. It is clearly not advisable for you (to travel to the Games) because you don’t want to take that risk,” said cabinet chief Jaques Wagner.

The unprecedented warning, issued just over six months from the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, came after the World Health Organization declared an emergency over the mosquito-borne virus, suspected of causing microcephaly, or abnormally small heads, in babies.

Wagner said Rousseff viewed the WHO’s move as “positive” because it “alerts the whole world, including the scientific world, to the danger of the new virus.”

He sought to downplay fears for any travelers who are not expecting mothers.

“If you’re an adult, a man or a woman who isn’t pregnant, you develop antibodies in about five days and (the disease) passes,” he said.

“I understand that no one needs to be afraid if you are not pregnant.”

However, some health officials have also blamed the Zika virus for causing Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, causing weakness and sometimes paralysis

.Most patients recover, but the syndrome is sometimes deadly.

“We’ve got to win this. And we are going to win this war on the country’s number one enemy — the Aedes aegypti mosquito,” said Health Minister Marcelo Castro.