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Health experts issue call to move Rio Olympics because of Zika outbreak

The Associated Press
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Health workers prepare to spray insecticide under the bleachers of the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, which will be used for the archery competition in the 2016 Summer Olympics, on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.
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A man walking his dog, stops to examine an Aedes aegypti mosquito sculpture created by street artist Andre Farkas, on a Paulista Ave. sidewalk, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, May 27, 2016. According to Farkas, the sculpture is intended to bring awareness to the spread of the Zika virus in Brazil. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

LONDON — Health experts on Friday urged the World Health Organization to consider postponing or moving the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of the Zika outbreak in the city.

The 150 experts — including Dr. Philip Rubin, a former White House science adviser — issued an open letter to the U.N. health agency, calling for the games to be delayed or relocated “in the name of public health.”

Among the letter's signatories are experts from more than two dozen countries in fields including public health, bioethics and pediatrics. Their letter cited recent scientific evidence that the Zika virus causes severe birth defects such as microcephaly, a medical condition in which the brain does not develop properly, resulting in a smaller-than-normal head. In adults, it can cause neurological problems, including a rare syndrome that can be fatal or result in temporary paralysis.

Most people infected by Zika suffer minor symptoms including fever, a rash and muscle or joint pain.

“The authors noted that despite increased efforts to wipe out the mosquitoes that spread Zika, infections in Rio have increased.

Several public health academics warned that having hundreds of thousands of people at the Aug. 5-21 games in Brazil would inevitably lead to the births of more babies with microcephaly and speed up the virus' global spread.

WHO declared the Zika epidemic a global emergency in February and in its latest assessment this week said it “does not see an overall decline in the outbreak.”

“The fire is already burning, but that is not a rationale not to do anything about the Olympics,” said Amir Attaran, a professor at the University of Ottawa and one of the letter's authors. “It is not the time now to throw more gas onto the fire.”

WHO has advised pregnant women not to go to Rio and said other travelers should avoid poor and overcrowded parts of the city.

The U.N. agency predicted the Zika risk in August would drop because it will be the winter in South America and there should be fewer mosquitoes.

But Zika also can be spread via sex. WHO recommends that pregnant women abstain or practice safe sex with partners returning from Zika-affected areas.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said 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. Chan, who is not of child bearing age, noted that she would be attending the games.

The letter noted a potential conflict of interest for WHO, highlighting the decades-long collaboration between the organization and the International Olympic Committee.

The authors said the “overly close” relationship “was last affirmed in 2010 at an event where the director-general of WHO and president of the IOC signed a memorandum of understanding, which is secret because neither has disclosed it.”

They also pointed to a group WHO established to provide cities with health advice and potentially help them bid for major events —including the Olympics.

“WHO cannot credibly assess the public health risks of Zika and the Olympics when it sets neutrality aside,” the letter stated.

WHO did not respond to a request for comment.

In an email to the AP, the IOC said it would “always consult the WHO for guidance and advice on health matters.”

Concerns about Zika have prompted USA Swimming to move its pre-Olympic training camp from Puerto Rico to Atlanta, and Major League Baseball officials scrapped a series in Puerto Rico between the Pirates and Miami Marlins amid concerns about the virus.

No Olympic Games have ever been moved from their host city because of medical concerns, but in 2003, FIFA decided to switch the Women's World Cup soccer tournament from China to the United States on short notice because of the threat posed by the respiratory virus SARS.