Health experts: Time rethink Olympics due to Zika threat - CNET

An open letter signed by more than 100 doctors, researchers and scientists from all over the globe is urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to reexamine the seriousness of the Zika virus and its impact it can have on the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games held this year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The letter outlined seven key facts about the Zika virus (which is spread by mosquitoes and currently has 32,000 cases in Rio alone) that would render the games unethical to run, including the fact that Rio's mosquito-killing program was unsuccessful; that Rio's health system is "so severely weakened as to make a last-minute push against Zika impossible;" and that the virus can cause "yet undiscovered neurological injuries" to its victims.

The Rio Olympics is scheduled for August 5-12, and 500,000 foreign tourists are expected to flood into the country to attend the games. Though the letter said the WHO has a conflict of interest to delay the games since it has an official partnership with the Inteational Olympic Committee, it is not entirely unprecedented to postpone or call off the event.

In the past, the 1916 Olympics was canceled due to World War I, and both the 1940 and 1944 Olympics were canceled due to World War II. According to the letter, major sporting events have also been moved because of diseases, "as Major League Baseball did for Zika, and the Africa Cup of Nations did for Ebola."

One of the main authors of the letter include Professor Amir Attaran, who published a report earlier this month in the Harvard Public Review arguing that the visitors from the games can escalate the Zika public health crisis in Brazil to a "full-blown global health disaster."

Both the World Health Organization and the Inteational Olympic Committee didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.