World health chiefs to reconsider Zika threat to Rio Olympics after professor slams them for ‘terrible conflict of interest’

By Amie Gordon For Mailonline

World Health Organization said it will reassess Zika threat after pressure
There are less than two months to go until the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro
Organisation now set to rethink whether to hold games in Rio as planned
More than 200 academics around the world called to postpone the games

In a dramatic eleventh hour U-turn, the World Health Organization (WHO) has finally bowed to international pressure and said it will reconsider the threat of the Zika virus.

With the Olympics fast approaching, the director-general of the organisation, Dr Margaret Chan, said the WHO will now ‘examine the risks of holding the Olympic Summer Games as currently scheduled’.

The comes after more than 200 academics from around the world signed an open letter to Dr Chan, calling on the Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro to be postponed or moved.

Experts have blamed the virus for a surge in cases in Latin America of microcephaly. Pictured, Mother Daniele Santos holds her baby Juan Pedro, who has microcephaly

Experts have blamed the virus for a surge in cases in Latin America of microcephaly. Pictured, Mother Daniele Santos holds her baby Juan Pedro, who has microcephaly

Professor Amir Attaran, a law and medicine professor at the University of Ottawa, was among those academics leading the campaign.

He labelled the WHO ‘arrogant and ignorant’ for its failure to assess the risks posed by the ongoing pandemic.

He also accused the organisation of ‘rejecting the wisdom of an open, transparent, independent scientific evaluation’ after it had decided to follow the advice of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which had said there was no reason to delay or move the games.

In a letter this week, Dr Chan said teams of scientists had been sent to Brazil four times, ‘to gather first-hand data on the current situation and assess the level of risk to the large number of athletes and spectators expected to attend the Olympic Summer Games’.

She was writing in response to a request by US Senator Jeanne Shaheen to evaluate the public health hazards of holding the Games in August.

Dr Chan wrote: ‘Given the current level of international concern, I have decided to ask members of the Zika Emergency Committee to examine the risks of holding the Olympic Summer Games as currently scheduled.

‘The experts, well-versed in travel medicine, the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases, seasonal patterns of mosquito-borne infections, and risks communications, will meet shortly.

‘Their advice to me will be immediately made public on our web site.’

However Professor Attaran told The Telegraph this week: ‘The WHO is in a terrible conflict of interest by being partners and advisers to the Olympics, and then having to turn around and assess the risk of the Olympics’.

 

Experts have blamed the virus for a surge in cases in Latin America of microcephaly – a serious birth defect in which babies are born with unusually small heads and brains.

The virus, mainly spread by two species of Aedes mosquito, but also through sexual contact, has also been linked to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal neurological disorder.

The WHO also warned this week that ‘many thousands’ of infants infected with Zika virus could suffer neurological abnormalities and said nations dealing with an outbreak need to be aware of problems beyond the widely reported cases of microcephaly.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ZIKA

WHAT IS ZIKA?

The Zika (ZEE’-ka) virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947 – its name comes from the Zika forest where it was first discovered.

It is native mainly to tropical Africa, with outbreaks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

It appeared in Brazil in 2014 and has since been reported in many Latin American countries and Caribbean islands.

HOW IS IT SPREAD?

It is typically transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes – Aedes aegypti – that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever.

It is not known to spread from person to person.

Scientists have found Zika can be transmitted sexually. The World Health Organization recently warned the mode of transmission is ‘more common than previously assumed’.

And, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued first-time guidance, saying couples trying to conceive should abstain or wear condoms for six months if the male has confirmed or suspected Zika.

Additionally, the CDC said couples should abstain or wear condoms for eight weeks if the female has confirmed or suspected Zika, or if the male traveled to a country with a Zika outbreak but has no symptoms.

During the current outbreak, the first case of sexually transmitted Zika was reported in Texas, at the beginning of February.

The patient became infected after sexual contact with a partner diagnosed with the virus after travelling to an affected region.

Now, health officials in the US are investigating more than a dozen possible cases of Zika in people thought to be infected during sex.

There are also reported cases in France and Canada.

Prior to this outbreak, scientists reported examples of sexual transmission of Zika in 2008.

A researcher from Colorado, who caught the virus overseas, is thought to have infected his wife, on returning home.

And records show the virus was found in the semen of a man in Tahiti.

So far, each case of sexual transmission of Zika involves transmission from an infected man to his partner. There is no current evidence that women can pass on the virus through sexual contact.

The World Health Organization says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region, people aren’t immune to it, and the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries it is just about everywhere – including along the southern United States.

Canada and Chile are the only places without this mosquito.

ARE THERE SYMPTOMS?

The majority of people infected with Zika virus will not experience symptoms.

Those that do, usually develop mild symptoms – fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes – which usually last no more than a week.

There is no specific treatment for the virus and there is currently no vaccine to protect against infection, though several are in the developmental stages.

WHY IS IT A CONCERN NOW?

In Brazil, there has been mounting evidence linking Zika infection in pregnant women to a rare birth defect called microcephaly, in which a newborn’s head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly.

Brazilian health officials last October noticed a spike in cases of microcephaly in tandem with the Zika outbreak.

The country said it has confirmed more than 860 cases of microcephaly – and that it considers them to be related to Zika infections in the mother.

Brazil is also investigating more than 4,200 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.

However, Brazilian health officials said they had ruled out 1,471 suspected cases in the week ending March 19.

Although Zika has not been conclusively proven to cause microcephaly, the World Health Organization has said that there is a ‘strong scientific consensus’ that it does.

The WHO also stated that researchers are now convinced that Zika is responsible for increased reports of a nerve condition called Guillain-Barre that can cause paralysis.

A team of Purdue University scientists recently revealed a molecular map of the Zika virus, which shows important structural features that may help scientists craft the first treatments to tackle the disease.

The map details vital differences on a key protein that may explain why Zika attacks nerve cells – while other viruses in the same family, such as dengue, Yellow Fever and West Nile, do not.

CAN THE SPREAD BE STOPPED?

Individuals can protect themselves from mosquito bites by using insect repellents, and wearing long sleeves and long pants – especially during daylight, when the mosquitoes tend to be most active, health officials say.

Eliminating breeding spots and controlling mosquito populations can help prevent the spread of the virus.

WILL THE ZIKA OUTBREAK SPREAD TO THE US?

Leading global health experts expected the virus to appear in the US and it has now emerged in the country.

As the temperature begins to rise across the country, the mosquito is likely to become abundant across much of the southern and eastern US.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research determined the Zika virus risk estimates for 50 US cities.
THE US CITIES AT HIGH RISK FOR ZIKA VIRUS TRANSMISSIONCITY STATE
Charleston South Carolina
Jacksonville Florida
Miami Florida
Mobile Alabama
New Orleans Louisiana
Orlando Florida
Tallahassee Florida
Tampa Florida
Savannah Georgia

Source: National Center for Atmospheric Research

Cities in southern Florida, as well as impoverished areas in southern Texas, carry the highest risk of Zika outbreaks, a team of experts determined.

However, the mosquito is also projected to appear as far west as Phoenix and Los Angeles, and as far north as New York City.

The CDC said mosquitoes that can transmit the Zika virus may live in a larger swath of the US than previously thought, however.

But, the expanded range doesn’t mean that they will cause disease in those areas.

The CDC revealed new maps of the estimated range of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and a related cousin.

It had been thought that the mosqutioes would primarily reside in the southern part of the country.

But, the new map shows the range of the Aedes aegypti mosquito could extend to parts of the Midest and Northeast.

The CDC said the new maps are a best understanding of where the mosqutioes have been seen recently or previously.

WHAT ARE THE TRAVEL ADVISORIES?

US health officials recommend that pregnant women should consider postponing trips to at least 30 destinations. For up-to-date information of the CDC’s travel advisories, check the CDC’s Zika page.

The CDC advises against traveling in Latin America to countries such as: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela. In the Caribbean: Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, St. Martin and Puerto Rico. Also, Cape Verde, off the coast of western Africa; and Samoa in the South Pacific. Additional countries have also been added to the list.

In Brazil, most of the mothers who had babies with microcephaly were apparently infected during the first trimester, but there is some evidence the birth defect can occur later in the pregnancy, CDC officials say.

The travel alert applies to women in any stage of pregnancy

IMAGES:

Director-general of the WHO, Dr Margaret Chan

Professor Amir Attaran, a law and medicine professor at the University of Ottawa

Director-general of the organisation, Dr Margaret Chan (pictured), said the WHO will now ‘examine the risks of holding the Olympic Summer Games as currently scheduled’

Some 200 academics from around the world signed an open letter calling on the Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro to be postponed or moved to another venue

Sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more common than health experts first feared, it has emerged. The discovery has prompted the World Health Organization to revise its advise regarding conception, urging couples to abstain from sex or use protection and delay conceiving for at least eight weeks (file photo)

The zika virus is typically transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes – Aedes aegypti

A city worker in Brazil fumigates in an effort to eradicate the mosquito which transmits the Zika virus

Three-month-old Alice Vitoria Gomes Bezerra, who has microcephaly, is held by her mother Nadja Cristina Gomes Bezerra

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3625892/World-health-chiefs-reconsider-zika-threat-Rio-Olympics-professor-slams-terrible-conflict-interest.html#ixzz4Avq5pvEV