In Brazil, pregnant women urged to be cautious with a kiss

RIO DE JANEIRO -- In a sign of mounting global concern over the Zika virus, health officials on Friday warned pregnant women to think twice about the lips they kiss and called on men to use condoms with pregnant partners if they have visited countries where the virus is present.

U.N. officials also called on many Catholic-majority countries in Latin America to loosen their abortion laws to allow women to terminate pregnancies if they fear the fetus may be at risk for a rare birth defect that causes brain damage and an abnormally small head, which may be linked to the virus.

The flurry of recommendations began in Brazil, where a top health official warned pregnant women to be cautious with their kisses.

Paulo Gadelha, president of the Fiocruz research institute, told a news conference scientists have found live virus in saliva and urine samples, and the possibility it could be spread by the two body fluids requires further study.

He said that calls for pregnant women to take special precautions, and suggested they avoid kissing people other than a regular partner or sharing cutlery, glasses and plates with people who have symptoms of the virus.

"This is not a generalized public health measure, for the love of God," he added, stressing both the seriousness of the discovery and reality that it was too soon to say how it could impact the epidemic.

Friday's announcement coincided with the start of Carnival, a five-day bacchanalia that sees millions of people take part in alcohol-fueled parties where kissing as many people as possible is a top pastime. Gadelha underscored the discovery needn't alter Carnival plans for anyone but pregnant women.

He also stressed that the Aedes aegpyti mosquito, which spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever as well as Zika, remains the virus' main vector and said the fight against the mosquito should be a top priority.