The Zika virus has killed at least 1,500 people in Mexico, including nearly half a million women and children.
The latest tally from the country’s Health Ministry shows the country has recorded 547 confirmed cases.
The country’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, announced Thursday that the country is facing a possible epidemic of Zika.
“If there is an outbreak of Zika in Mexico we will be ready to help, we will send the necessary medical and scientific support to Mexico and its people,” he said during a press conference.
Mexico has already reported 6,300 confirmed cases of Zika since March, when the virus first emerged.
That number, however, has ballooned to more than 12,000, which would put it at a record high, the country reports.
Pena Nieto has made an emergency decree to declare a state of emergency and set up a special medical unit to deal with the outbreak.
The president’s plan calls for a 100 percent reduction in the number of confirmed cases by the end of 2018.
The Mexican government also announced it will establish an anti-Zika task force that will be responsible for overseeing the countrys response to the epidemic.
The United States has also pledged to send up to 3,000 troops to Mexico to help deal with any possible outbreak, but the administration has yet to specify exactly how many.
The State Department has not announced any plans to send troops to the country, though some lawmakers have voiced support for the idea.
Mexico’s president has said it’s unlikely to have an epidemic in the first year of the outbreak, although experts have warned the virus could quickly spread if it’s left unchecked.
Pernambuco’s government has also warned the outbreak could affect tourists, with the country reporting 2,000 Zika cases per day in October.
The city of Monterrey in the state of Baja California has recorded an additional 500 cases of the virus.
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported an increase in cases of microcephaly, a condition in which infants born with abnormally small heads are born with brain damage and other neurological problems.
The CDC also said it has confirmed cases in New York, New Jersey, California, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas and Washington state.