Story highlights The WHO advises couples living in Zika-infected areas to delay pregnancy

New guidance clarifies language released last week

(CNN) If you and your partner live where in a country where the Zika virus is actively spreading via the bite of an infected mosquito, the World Health Organization wants you to consider delaying pregnancy to avoid having a baby with brain damage or other birth defects.

According to data from the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control, CNN counts at least 50 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean where the virus is currently circulating. In the United States, local transmission via mosquito has been reported only in U.S. territories, not on the mainland.

There have been at least 11 sexually transmitted cases of the virus in the U.S., but all are linked to people who have visited one of the affected countries.

The WHO advisory falls in line with recommendations from the Puerto Rico secretary of health, Dr. Ana Ríus-Armendáriz, and the governments of Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador and Jamaica. It appears to encourage health care providers in all affected countries to follow suit.

"Men and women of reproductive age living in affected areas should be informed and orientated to consider delaying pregnancy," the WHO said in Thursday's guidance

Read More