The Health and Welfare Ministry on Friday designated the Zika virus infection as a category four legal infectious disease.

The category applies to infectious diseases that "have newly broken out or are likely to break out in South Korea" or are "epidemics overseas with a risk of transmission" to the country. 

With the designation, doctors who have treated infected or suspected patients of the virus must report to the local health center immediately. Violators are subject to fines of up to two million won.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also running a task force to follow developments in the Zika virus outbreak and has also formed an advisory team comprising officials of the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases.

Zika virus infection is a viral illness transmitted by mosquitoes that is thought to cause abnormally small heads, or microcephaly, among newborn babies.