Biosecurity

WHO urged to consider moving Rio Olympics because of Zika

Already hit by recession and political turmoil, Brazil has come under more pressure as 150 health experts called for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to be postponed or moved because of the Zika epidemic.

In an open letter to the World Health Organisation, the signatories, who included a former White House science adviser, said the current plans for the Games needed to be revised “in the name of public health”.

The open letter cited growing scientific studies that suggest the Zika virus is responsible for birth defects, including microcephaly. In rare cases, it can also cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological disease that results in temporary, and sometimes fatal, paralysis.

The experts fear that these defects could spread more rapidly around the world as a result of an influx of Olympic visitors to Rio, which has a high incidence of Zika cases.