|
 The emergency meeting set for June 14 will be the WHO's third
regarding the Zika virus outbreak. Such panels are required to meet
every three months to review new evidence and consider whether Zika
and its ability to cause a rare birth defect should still be
classified as an international health emergency.
The meeting comes amid intensifying concerns over holding the
Olympics in Brazil, the country hardest hit by Zika. Brazilian
authorities have confirmed more than 1,400 cases of microcephaly in
babies whose mothers were exposed to Zika during pregnancy. The WHO
has advised that pregnant women avoid travel to Zika outbreak areas
and that men who have been infected by or exposed to the virus
practice safe sex, or abstain from sex, for up to six months.
The group of independent experts, who declared an international
emergency on Feb. 1 and last convened on March 8, will "look at
evidence around the Olympics and most likely review the travel
guidance around that," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.
A letter signed by more than 200 bioethicists and health experts has
called for the WHO to recommend postponing or moving the Olympics to
prevent an acceleration of the epidemic's spread. WHO has rejected
the call, saying the Games would not have a significant public
health impact.
But last week, the agency said it would take up the issue during its
emergency committee meeting.
"The role of the emergency committee is to review all new science
and all new evidence which has come in over the past months and to
review their own recommendations, to make new recommendations or
give out new guidance," Lindmeier told a news briefing.
Several risk experts are predicting that a very small number of
travelers to the Olympics would be infected with Zika. The event
begins on Aug. 5, during Brazil's winter, when mosquito activity is
low.
Experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for
example, project the Olympics would contribute a 0.25 percent
increase in the overall risk of disease spread from travel to and
from areas with active Zika transmission.
NEW DATA
Dr. David Heymann, chair of Britain's Health Protection Agency and
leader of the WHO panel of independent experts on Zika, told Reuters
last week that postponing the Olympics would create a false sense of
security, because travelers are constantly going in and out of
Brazil.
Brazilian authorities have sought to allay concerns over the Games
as well. The local organizing committee for the Olympics said on
Tuesday it has not registered a single case of Zika among 17,000
athletes, volunteers and staff during recent test events in Brazil.
[to top of second column] |
Scientists are telling the WHO that the risk of global spread of the
virus is "not significantly higher" as a consequence of the Games,
Lindmeier said.
"Of course there is a lot of international concern out there, there
is a lot of personal concern out there because it's a new disease,"
he said. "And the best way for us to react to emotional concerns is
to look at our deep science and to give clear guidance as good as we
can."
New projections obtained by Reuters suggest the risk is small. One
Sao Paulo-based research group predicted the Rio Olympics would
result in no more than 15 Zika infections among the foreign visitors
expected to attend the event.
Although Zika causes mild disease in most individuals, it can cause
devastating birth defects in babies whose mothers become infected
during pregnancy. As a result, all experts say that pregnant women
should avoid travel to any country with active Zika transmission.
Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor of the popular "Today" show on U.S.
television network NBC, plans to heed that advice. She said on
Tuesday she is pregnant and will not travel to Brazil to cover the
Olympics for NBC due to concerns over Zika.
For those who plan to attend the Olympics, WHO and the CDC have
recommended precautions to avoid bringing the virus back home where
it might be picked up by local mosquitoes and then infect other
people. These include wearing protective clothing and using insect
repellent.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Stephanie Nebehay in
Geneva; Additional reporting by Anna Driver in New York, Paulo Prada
in Rio de Janeiro, Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Michele
Gershberg and Bernard Orr)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
