Story highlights Zika and microcephaly are still a high priority, World Health Organization says

The WHO first declared the emergency in February

(CNN) The Zika virus outbreak and related clusters of microcephaly are no longer a public health emergency of international concern, the World Health Organization said Friday.

This ends the declaration made by the organization in February due to the simultaneous spread of the virus and "extraordinary clusters" of microcephaly among babies born in areas where the virus was spreading.

"We are not downgrading the importance of Zika. By placing this as a long-term program of work, we are saying Zika is here to stay," said Dr. David Heymann, the chairman of the emergency committee on Zika virus and microcephaly, which made the announcement.

In February, it was not known that the virus was the cause of the neurological birth defect. In April, the WHO said the virus definitely causes microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barré Syndrome in adults.

"The source of the concern was not that there was Zika, it was extraordinary clustering of microcephaly that hadn't been seen before at a time when lots of infection was occurring," Heymann said.

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