Call to delay or move Olympics over Zika

 The Rio Games are set to begin in August. Photo: Reuters
The Rio Games are set to begin in August. Photo: Reuters

More than 100 health experts have called for the Rio Olympic Games to be postponed or moved because of fears that the event could speed up the spread of the Zika virus around the world.

"The Brazilian strain of Zika virus harms health in ways that science has not observed before," they said in a public letter published online.

"An unnecessary risk is posed when 500,000 foreign tourists from all countries attend the Games, potentially acquire that strain, and return home to places where it can become endemic."

The letter was signed by 150 people identified as health experts and sent to the head of the World Health Organisation. 

The letter called on the WHO to convene an independent group to advise it and the International Olympic Committee with a priority for science and public health, as well as the spirit of sport.

"Given the public health and ethical consequences, not doing so is irresponsible," it said.

IOC president Thomas Bach said in February that the spread of the mosquito-borne virus across South America would not adversely affect the Games due to take place in Rio de Janeiro in August.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded after months of research that infection with Zika in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly, where infants are born with abnormally small heads, and other severe brain abnormalities in babies.

The disease 

Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. The Pan American Health Organisation said Aedes mosquitoes are found in all countries in the Americas except Canada and continental Chile, and the virus will likely reach all countries and territories of the region where Aedes mosquitoes are found.

There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika infection. Companies and scientists are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine for Zika, but the WHO has said it would take at least 18 months to start large-scale clinical trials of potential preventative shots.

 

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