Zika outbreak leads health experts to call for Rio Olympic Games to be moved or stopped
By Mark Ashenden
Last Updated: 27/05/16 8:42pm
This summer's Olympics in Rio should be postponed or moved because of the Zika outbreak, say health experts.
The 150 experts, including former White House science adviser Dr Philip Rubin, issued an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO), demanding the move "in the name of public health".
The letter cited recent scientific evidence that the Zika virus causes severe birth defects, most notably babies born with abnormally small heads. In adults, it can cause neurological problems, including a rare syndrome that can be fatal or result in temporary paralysis.
The authors also noted that despite increased efforts to wipe out the mosquitoes that spread Zika, infections in Rio have gone up rather than down.
Several public health academics have previously warned that having hundreds of thousands of people head to the Games (August 5-21) in Brazil will inevitably lead to the births of more brain-damaged babies and speed up the virus' global spread.
Olympic and world champion Jessica Ennis-Hill expressed her concerns in April. She said "I have to make sure I understand what's happening and what the risks are. It's something I have to be on top of."
Most people infected by Zika suffer only minor symptoms including fever, a rash and muscle or joint pain.
WHO declared the Zika epidemic to be a global emergency in February and in its latest assessment this week, said it "does not see an overall decline in the outbreak".
Amir Attaran, a professor at the University of Ottawa and one of the letter's authors, said: "The fire is already burning, but that is not a rationale not to do anything about the Olympics.
"It is not the time now to throw more gasoline onto the fire."
WHO has already advised pregnant women not to go to Rio and says other travellers should avoid poor and overcrowded parts of the city. The UN health agency also predicted the Zika risk in August would drop since it will be the south American winter and there should be fewer mosquitoes.
WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan said earlier this month that the U.N. health agency is increasingly worried about Zika but stopped short of recommending the Rio Olympics be moved or postponed.
Concerns over Zika have prompted USA Swimming to move its pre-Olympic training camp from Puerto Rico to Atlanta and Major League Baseball also scrapped a series of games that were going to be held in San Juan.
No Olympic Games have ever been moved from their host city due to medical concerns, but in 2003, FIFA decided to switch the Women's World Cup football tournament from China to the United States on short notice due to the threat posed by the respiratory virus SARS.
