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More than 100 prominent physicians, bioethicists and scientists from around the world posted a letter on May 27 urging World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan to exert pressure on Olympic authorities to move the Olympics from Rio de Janeiro or delay the Games because of public health concerns over the Zika virus.
Brazil, which is hosting the Olympics and the Paralympics, is at the epicenter of the rapidly evolving mosquito-borne epidemic.
In the open letter posted on Twitter and Facebook, the authors said evidence shows that Brazil’s Zika strain has more serious medical consequences than researchers previously knew, that Rio de Janeiro is one of the hardest-hit areas of the epidemic, and that Rio’s mosquito-killing efforts are not meeting expectations.
The WHO said that based on its current assessment, “cancelling or changing the location of the 2016 Olympics will not significantly alter the international spread of Zika virus.” It noted that Brazil is one of almost 60 countries and territories which have reported continuing spread of Zika by mosquitoes.
Read full, original post: 150 experts say Olympics must be moved or postponed because of Zika
