A leading Obama administration health official says he doubts the United States is vulnerable to a widespread outbreak of a virus linked to a wave of birth defects in Brazil.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the Zika virus — suspected of being connected to microcephaly — hopefully can be kept at bay with “mosquito vector control.”

Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, appeared on “CBS This Morning.” He tells interviews administration officials do not believe there are major ways of spreading the virus “other than by mosquito bites.”

Health officials suspect that Zika is linked to a wave of birth defects in Brazil in which babies have small heads.

President Barack Obama hosted a meeting of federal health specialists on the issue earlier this week.

(AP)