Health professionals in South America are concerned that a mosquito-borne disease may be responsible for causing deformities in newborns.

According to The Telegraph UK, health authorities across South America and the Caribbean are on alert over the spread of the Zika virus, a mosquit0-borne disease that may be linked to congenital brain deformity.

The disease is said to be similar to the dengue fever and is spread via Aedes Mosquitos, which were identified on the Easter Island in Chile in February last year.

Symptoms are usually mild. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that among the most common are fever, rash, joint pain, and red eye, which lasts from several days to a week. However, doctors in Brazil are investigating links between the virus and the sudden rise in number of babies born with microcephaly or underdeveloped brains and skulls. Microcephaly usually causes cognitive or developmental problems and babies are diagnosed with such when their head measures less than 33 cm in circumference.

The Brazilian health ministry already confirmed almost 400 cases of newborns with small heads in the north-eastern part of the country, majority of those affected being from the state of Pernambuco.

Causes for the increase of microcephaly cases have not been established yet, although according to a scientific institute in Brazil, the Zika virus has been found in the amniotic fluid of two pregnant women whose children were diagnosed with microcephaly.

The Independent noted that around 80 percent of mothers who bore children with microcephaly in Rio Grande do Norto also had symptoms compatible with the Zika virus in their first trimester.

Part of the World Health Organization, PAHO, issued an alert for member states to report increase of Zika disease and other similar increases/

"The national health authorities of Brazil are investigating the cause of the event. Clinical, laboratory, and ultrasound analysis of mothers and newborns is being carried out," PAHO noted.

Last month, reports advised health authorities to prepare for "a potential burden at all levels of health care" as the virus continued to spread. The Ministry of Public Health in Ecuador ordered immediate notification for cases suspected to be Zika, while Jamaica claims to already be treating cases.

The CDC noted that there is currently no vaccine to prevent or treat Zika, and although it's currently not found in the U.S. yet, cases have been reported in returning travelers. To be safe, those traveling to South America and other affected continents can protect themselves by taking steps to avoid mosquito bites, like using insect-repellent, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants and staying in places with air conditioning or those with window and door screens.