Two Major League Baseball Games scheduled in Puerto Rico this month have been moved to Miami over fears about the Zika virus.

Major League Baseball and the MLB players' union jointly announced the move on Friday.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins had been scheduled to play in San Juan on May 30 and 31.

The decision to move the series to Miami arose after numerous players expressed concerns to the union about the virus, which is primarily spread through mosquito bites but can also be spread through sexual contact.

It has been linked to the brain defect microcephaly and blamed for a recent surge in cases of babies suffering from the defect in Brazil.

The US Centers for Disease Control has warned of a potential explosion of Zika cases in Puerto Rico. Last week the CDC reported the first death there from complications of the disease -- of a 70-year-old man who died of thrombocytopenia -- a condition in which the blood does not clot properly.

The two games were to be the first regular-season games played in Puerto Rico since the Marlins and New York Mets played a three-game set in San Juan in 2010.

Source :AFP