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Health workers, in this January,2016 photo, stand in the Sambadrome spraying insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro. The Sambadrome will be used for the Archery competition during the 2016 summer games.(Photo: Leo Correa, AP)
The World Health Organization, which in February declared the spread of Zika in the Americas a global emergency, said Saturday there is "no public health justification" for postponing the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The statement by the Geneva-based U.N. health agency comes one day after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a group of doctors, scientists and bioethicists wrote a letter to the organization calling for the Aug. 5-21<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Games<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to be postponed or moved because of concerns of the spread of Zika.
Friday’s letter cited recent scientific evidence that the mosquito-borne<span style="color: Red;">*</span>virus causes severe birth defects, most notably microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development. In adults, it can cause<span style="color: Red;">*</span>neurological problems, including a rare syndrome that can be fatal or result in temporary paralysis.
The Zika outbreak began in Brazil a year ago.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Between February and April 2016, Brazil's health ministry registered 91,387 likely cases of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>virus, Reuters<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reports.
The ministry<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the number of confirmed cases of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>microcephaly dropped to 1,326 in the week through May 7 as doctors and Brazilian health officials found<span style="color: Red;">*</span>some suspected cases were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>not the disorder. Suspected ones under investigation continued to decline to 3,433.
The WHO<span style="color: Red;">*</span>statement<span style="color: Red;">*</span>made no direct reference to Friday’s letter, which also alluded<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to what it called an “overly close” relationship between the health agency and the International Olympic Committee.
WHO, however, noted Brazil<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is one of almost 60 countries and territories<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reporting the transmission of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Zika virus by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>mosquitoes.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"People continue to travel between these countries and territories for a variety of reasons," WHO said. "The best way to reduce risk of disease is to follow public health travel advice."
Based on the current assessment of the virus worldwide, WHO said, "there is no public health justification for postponing or canceling the Games." The agency said it would continue<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to monitor the situation and "update our advice as necessary.”
The organization recommended visitors to the Games use<span style="color: Red;">*</span>insect repellents and wear<span style="color: Red;">*</span>clothing that covers as much of the body as possible.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>It also recommended travelers<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"practice safer sex," including the use of condoms, or abstain<span style="color: Red;">*</span>from sex during their stay in Brazil and for at least four weeks after their return because the virus can be transmitted through<span style="color: Red;">*</span>semen.
The letter calling for a postponement or cancellation of the 2016<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Games cited the possibility of travelers acquiring Zika in Rio and then<span style="color: Red;">*</span>returning home, especially to areas currently unaffected by the virus.
The virus doesn't spread from person to person like the flu. If a mosquito bites an infected person, it then can pass on Zika to the next person it bites. The virus<span style="color: Red;">*</span>can also be transmitted through sex and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>blood transfusions.
The authors also noted that despite increased efforts to wipe out the mosquitoes that spread Zika, the number of infections in Rio went<span style="color: Red;">*</span>up rather than down.
“It is unethical to run the risk, just for Games that could proceed anyway, if postponed and/or moved,” the letter stated.
The letter writers included Amir Attaran, a University of Ottawa professor who specializes in public health. It was co-authored by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Dr. Arthur Caplan, the director of the division of medical ethics at New York University, as well as by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>NYU professor Lee Ingel and Christopher Gaffney from the University of Zurich.
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