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As Brazil reels from a spiraling political crisis and its deepest recession in decades, a public health specialist in Canada has added to the country's woes with a high-profile call for the 2016 summer Olympics - slated to kick off in Rio de Janeiro in early August - to be postponed or moved due to the Zika outbreak.

"But for the Games, would anyone recommend sending an extra half a million visitors into Brazil right now?" Canadian professor Amir Attaran, whose research areas include population health and global development policy, asked this week in a commentary published in the Harvard Public Health Review.

First seen in Brazil last year, the Zika virus has now been detected in more than 50 countries. Brazil remains the country most-affected by the mosquito-borne virus, which has been proven to cause a severe birth defect that results in babies born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains. The virus has also been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis and death.

In February, the World Health Organization declared the Zika virus a public health emergency of international concern. Save for advising pregnant women not to travel to Zika-affected areas - including Rio de Janeiro - WHO has not issued any other travel restrictions on Zika-affected countries.

Speaking to the Guardian on Thursday, Attaran described the idea of going ahead with the games as both "indescribably foolish" and "monstrously unethical". The potential risks to visitors range from brain-damaged children to death in rare instances, he added. "Is this what the Olympics stand for?"

The state of Rio de Janeiro has recorded 26,000 suspected Zika cases - the highest of any state in Brazil - and has an incident rate of 157 per 100,000, the fourth highest in the country, he said. "What is proposed is to bring half a million Olympic visitors into the heart of the epidemic."

The deluge of athletes and visitors expected to pour into Rio from countries around the world could facilitate the virus's transmission in countries that to date have been unaffected, he said.

The risk is that the virus may land on the doorstep of countries that do not have adequate healthcare infrastructure to tackle the virus. "With all those skills and gifts that Brazil possesses, it has been unable to quell this catastrophe," said Attaran. "Are we seriously expecting that Nigeria, the Congo, and Indonesia will be able to do so?"

On Thursday, WHO responded to the claims, noting that the Zika virus usually results in mild symptoms - ranging from fever, body aches and rashes - with most of those affected not experiencing any symptoms at all.

The organisation said it has been working with the Brazilian government to mitigate the risk posed by Zika to athletes and visitors, and is encouraging visitors to take precautions to protect themselves from mosquito bites and practice safer sex.

The timing of the Games may also prove help helpful. "The Games will take place during Brazil's wintertime when there are fewer active mosquitoes and the risk of being bitten is lower," the organisation said in a statement.

The International Olympic Committee said it has no plans to postpone or move the Games and instead has been in close contact with WHO to track the Zika virus in Brazil. "We are working with our partners in Rio on measures to deal with the pools of stagnant water around the Olympic venues, where the mosquitos breed, to minimise the risk of visitors coming into contact with them," the IOC told the Guardian.

In recent weeks, the Zika outbreak has been eclipsed by the many challenges facing Brazil: Dilma Rousseff, the country's president, has been stripped of her presidential duties and is facing impeachment; the economy has plunged into a deep recession; and uproar has been growing over a corruption scandal involving the state-controlled oil company, Petrobras, and politicians across the spectrum.

Rousseff was suspended early on Thursday, after the country's senate voted to impeach her over charges she whitewashed government finances. Hours later the interim president, Michael Temer, named a politician with no medical background as the new health minister. The portfolio will be taken by Ricardo Barros, a civil engineer by training. He is the fourth health minister in little more than half a year.

The medical director of Australia's Olympic team said he believed the risk of the Zika virus was minimal for Australian athletes. "The last couple of people that I have spoken to, who have been to Rio in the past month or two, haven't seen a mosquito," said David Hughes in a statement. "Given that there is no chance that the Games are going to be shifted to another venue, I believe we can proceed with confidence, knowing that we have appropriate guidelines and preventative measures in place."

Canada's Attaran is not the first academic to publicly question whether the games in Brazil should go on as planned. In February, New York University's Arthur Caplan and Lee Igel, wrote in an article that "to host the Games at a site teeming with Zika ... is, quite simply, irresponsible".

Attaran pointed to the 1976 Winter Olympics - moved to Austria after mounting costs forced the American city of Denver to withdraw as host - as a precedent for allowing the Games to be changed in exceptional circumstances. "I'm not the Olympic Grinch. I'm not calling for the games to be cancelled," he said. "What I'm asking for is a bit of delayed gratification so that babies aren't born permanently disabled."

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Zika virus makes Rio Olympics a threat in Brazil and abroad, health expert says

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Amir Attaran calls for postponement or moving of Games and says biggest risk is spreading the virus to countries without adequate healthcare infrastructure

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The issue that I’ve come up with has to do with the Olympic games. There has been a large debate on this topic, as Brazil, is where the Zika virus has originated and is dominating. It is an issue because a large number of people, including some health experts and athletes say that we should re-schedule this, whereas WHO and some official olympic committees are strongly against them.

These are just some of the dangers associated with Zika. Microcephaly, the defect in young fetus’ brain, and Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder are the two mainly known diseases. There is no vaccine for it yet and very little is known while it is extremely difficult to control the source.

They include global organisations, like WHO, IOC, as well as athletes, and tourists travelling to Rio to view the games.

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Before last year, scientists knew very little about the Zika virus. As late as 2007, there had only been 14 documented Zika cases in the world. Research on the virus was so limited, in fact, that printouts of all the world's published literature could basically fit into a shoebox.

Suffice to say, researchers now have a lot of questions about Zika. After the mosquito-borne virus exploded around Brazil last year, moving on to most of Latin America and the Caribbean, an effort to better understand Zika was on. Here are the most pressing questions scientists are currently trying to tease out:

1) Does Zika cause microcephaly?

If Zika hadn't been linked to an awful birth defect, it probably wouldn't have garnered many headlines or much research funding. It would have just been a strange, mostly benign virus that only affects about 20 percent of infected people with flu-like symptoms.

But the outbreak grabbed everyone's attention once new evidence suggested that women infected with Zika during pregnancy could give birth to babies with microcephaly, a condition that's characterized by a shrunken head and incomplete brain development. That drove headlines. And the search to figure out more about this birth complication began.

Proving that Zika causes microcephaly - or not - is currently the key question about this virus.

So far, researchers mostly have circumstantial evidence of a link. The virus has been found in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women carrying babies with microcephaly. It's been found in the brains of babies with the birth defect who died within 24 hours of being born and in an aborted fetus with microcephaly. Brain scans have also revealed the extent of the damage Zika causes: calcifications in some areas of the brain and complete underdevelopment in others.

"The geographic and temporal associations of infection of mothers with Zika and congenital abnormalities with children with microcephaly is mounting," says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

There are other tantalizing hints too. Similar clusters of microcephaly have been found in other Zika outbreaks. A look back at the data from a Zika outbreak in the French Polynesian islands in 2013 to 2014 revealed a rise in birth defects following the arrival of Zika.

Still, scientists don't yet consider this evidence conclusive. "We still don't have the definitive proof of the direct causal relationship," says Fauci. And that's exactly what researchers are trying to gather now.

Proving that Zika is causing these birth defects and not something else requires what's called a "case-control study." Researchers are comparing the rates of microcephaly in groups of pregnant women who are infected with Zika to those who are not. If moms who had Zika during pregnancy have a statistically significantly higher rate of microcephaly than the moms who didn't have Zika, the researchers can be confident that the virus is what's making the difference.

The moms who test positive for Zika and have babies with microcephaly would also need to be screened for other known causes of the birth defect, including other viruses like toxoplasmosis, syphilis, or rubella, and even malnutrition.

2) How often does Zika lead to birth defects, and how does it affect babies' brains?

If Zika is indeed the culprit of this devastating birth defect, there will be many more questions to answer. The main one: How often does Zika cause microcephaly?

Are all mothers infected with Zika in pregnancy at risk for birth complications? Or only some? Are there certain factors that can increase the risk of birth complications - say, infection at a certain point in pregnancy, leftover antibodies from another virus, malnutrition? Is microcephaly more likely in women who acquire Zika through sex compared with those who are infected by mosquito bites? Researchers don't know.

Figuring this out will require better data on how prevalent microcephaly is. The initial media reports in Brazil suggested a massive uptick in the condition after the arrival of Zika. It turns out this wasn't quite accurate.

There are some good reasons to think the increase of microcephaly in Brazil since 2014 may be exaggerated. The first is an "awareness bias." When doctors began to sound the alarm over Zika, health officials massively ramped up the effort to find babies who may have been harmed by the virus.

People were freaked out, and so were doctors. In that context, doctors were looking for microcephaly and may have been more likely to report the birth complication than in the past - perhaps including borderline cases that would have never been reported in the past and cases that aren't actually microcephaly at all.

Conversely, there's now some suspicion that Brazilian doctors actually underreported microcephaly prior to Zika's arrival. That means their pre-Zika baseline of a couple hundred cases per year was too low.
"Is it a direct infectious destruction of the neural tissue in the baby? Or is Zika synergizing with something else?"
Experts don't think these problems with measuring microcephaly cases entirely account for Brazil's uptick, but they may give a skewed picture of the extent of the problem. Getting the numbers right will require painstaking checks - and that takes time.

As of February 17, of the 3,935 suspected cases of microcephaly, the Brazilian Ministry of Health has confirmed 508 and thrown out 837. The rest are being checked, and of the confirmed cases of microcephaly, only a few have been linked with Zika.

If it turns out Zika is definitively the cause of the birth complication, then the next question is: How? What's the mechanism of infection?

Fauci says researchers don't have a clear idea now, although they do have some areas they'd like to explore. "Is it a direct infectious destruction of the neural tissue in the baby? Or is Zika synergizing with something else, some other factor that requires infection of the mother, but cannot itself cause microcephaly?" One possibility is that it may be two diseases working together: A mother with a previous infection like dengue fever might have antibodies that could somehow enhance the likelihood of Zika-related birth complications.

"You've got to keep an open mind about everything," Fauci adds. But the first step, he says, are those case-control studies to see whether Zika is causing the birth defects.

3) Has the Zika virus mutated in some important way?

Zika used to just cause small and sporadic outbreaks in Africa and Asia. Now it's infecting millions of people in an explosive outbreak in Latin America. So there are questions about whether the virus has mutated in some important way.

To be clear, all RNA viruses like Zika mutate as they jump from host to host, but they don't typically mutate so radically as to change functions. (That is, Zika is unlikely to mutate from a virus transmitted by mosquitoes into an airborne virus.) Still, there are questions about whether Zika has mutated in some smaller way that has boosted transmissibility.

"We are doing Zika sequencing, and, with the help of reverse genetics, looking to pinpoint whether or not a mutation of the virus may have been responsible for this change," explains Nikos Vasilakis, a professor and researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch. But there's a problem with finding out how Zika has changed: Researchers need many sequences of the virus to detect patterns or changes. And since research on Zika is so new, they don't have enough.

Fauci also wonders whether similarly explosive epidemics of Zika have happened elsewhere but have just gone undetected: "The virus has been around in Africa for a while, so one can ask why haven't we had massive explosions of Zika? We may have and they have just gone unnoticed." This is a particular possibility since the health systems of Africa aren't as well developed as those of Brazil.

4) How exactly does Zika spread?

For now, scientists believe that Zika is mainly carried by a specific type of mosquito called Aedes aegypti, which spreads the disease through bites.

Aedes mosquitoes bite during the day and are incredibly well adapted to thrive alongside humans. They can breed and rest in small pools of water and moist environments around people's homes and apartments. (You can see examples of the mosquito's main aquatic habitats here, ranging from rain-filled cavities in trees to outdoor pots and animal drinking pans.)

But there have also been several documented cases of sexual transmission of Zika, which has led to more questions about how Zika can spread. "We don't know the extent of [sexual transmission]," says Fauci. Is this only a very rare pathway for the virus? Or a more common one than was previously believed?

Researchers also don't know the duration and persistence of the virus in semen. Can the virus spread only during acute infection, in the first few days of getting sick? Or is it transmissible as long as it's in the semen? In the UK, researchers found virus in a man's semen 62 days after he got sick.

Finally, there is new - but very limited research - out of Brazil that found the virus in saliva and urine samples of two people infected with Zika. The researchers tested these bodily fluids in people with Zika and found active virus. (This isn't the first time Zika has been found in urine or in saliva.)

There's very little that's known about how infectious these bodily fluids are and whether or how they could infect others. One of the researchers behind the discovery cautioned, "[This] does not mean there is a capacity for transmission through saliva and urine."

5) What other problems can Zika cause?

In the Brazil, Colombia, and French Polynesia outbreaks, researchers noted that some people infected with the virus were later diagnosed with Guillain-Barré, a rare and sometimes deadly neurological condition in which people's immune systems damage their nerve cells, leading to muscle weakness and even paralysis. The symptoms can last weeks, months, or even years. This link hasn't been proven, but Dr. Eric Rubin, a professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard, said it wouldn't be unusual. "Guillain-Barré is often associated with viral infections," he explained.

Zika also seems to cause eye problems in children born with the virus, and there are questions about whether it'll increase the risk of mental illness later in life, even in babies who were not born with microcephaly.

In other words, we're just beginning to understand the full range of Zika's effects.

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The 5 most troubling questions scientists still have about Zika

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Before last year, scientists knew very little about the Zika virus. As late as 2007, there had only been 14 documented Zika cases in the world. Research on the virus was so limited, in fact, that printouts of all the world's published literature could basically fit into a shoebox.

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Posted June 15, 2016 08:09:49

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) emergency committee says there is a "very low risk" of the Zika virus spreading further internationally as a result of the Olympic Games in Brazil.

The statement came as worry mounted that the mosquito-borne virus, which has spread across much of Latin America and which can lead to severe birth defects in babies, might spread further when the Olympics begin in August.

"The Committee concluded that there is a very low risk of further international spread of Zika virus as a result of the Olympic and Paralympic Games as Brazil will be hosting the Games during the Brazilian winter," the WHO said.

The global health agency explained that the intensity of the transmission of viruses like dengue and Zika "will be minimal".

Brazilian authorities are "intensifying vector-control measures in and around the venues for the Games which should further reduce the risk of transmission," the WHO said.

"There should be no general restrictions on travel and trade with countries, areas and/or territories with Zika virus transmission."

The committee however said Brazil should make sure it boosts its control measures in cities where the Games will be held.

In Brazil, some 1.5 million people have been infected with the virus, and nearly 1,300 babies have been born with microcephaly - abnormally small heads and brains - since the outbreak of Zika began there last year.

The virus, which usually causes only mild, flu-like symptoms, can also trigger adult-onset neurological problems such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which can cause paralysis and death.

In an added complication, there is limited, but growing evidence that Zika can be transmitted sexually.

There is no vaccine for Zika.

A number of high-profile athletes have expressed concerns over the virus, with Boomers star Andrew Bogut saying it was expected the Internatonal and Australian Olympic committees would say everything is fine in Rio.

"The (International) Olympic Committee and the AOC are obviously saying everything is fine," Bogut said.

"No shit. They want you to go. I take it with a grain of salt what they're putting out.

"Just being bitten by a mosquito and then come down with something is a pretty scary prospect.

"I've had my yellow fever shot already, which is a battle in itself. And then you've got malaria and you've got Zika. So being able to get that from an insect is pretty scary stuff."

Australia's world number one golfer Jason Day also has reservations about travelling to Rio, while Olympic gold medal-winning long jumper Greg Rutherford has frozen his sperm as a precaution.
AFP/ABC

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WHO committee says low risk of Zika spread at Olympics

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Posted June 15, 2016 08:09:49 The World Health Organisation's (WHO) emergency committee says there is a "very low risk" of the Zika virus spreading further internationally as a result of the Olympic Games in Brazil.

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It seems almost inconceivable that the world's biggest sporting event could be derailed by a tiny insect, the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

However distant or unlikely that possibility is, Brazil's government is going to great lengths to persuade athletes and visitors that Rio de Janeiro will be perfectly safe come the Olympic Games opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium on 5 August.

"We estimate that fewer than one in 500,000 visitors to Rio will contract the Zika virus," said Ricardo Barros, Brazil's new health minister.
What you need to know about Zika Zika virus and microcephaly
Mr Barros has only been in the post for a month, after the impeachment process against Dilma Rousseff forced a change of government, but he clearly sees reassuring Brazil and the world over the Zika outbreak as his number one priority.

Obvious concern

I asked the minister how the government could be so confident in asserting that there was an "almost zero" risk of contracting Zika when the latest advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) was that "women in Zika-affected areas should consider delaying becoming pregnant".

"There's no contradiction," replied Mr Barros.

"We are working closely with the WHO but our figures show that rates of Zika infection have fallen by 87% this year already."

In Brazil, there have been more than 1,500 confirmed cases of microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads.

With other neurological conditions also blamed on Zika, there is obvious concern about the virus.

After the WHO's advice that pregnant women should not travel to Zika-infected areas and subsequent evidence that the virus could be transferred through sex as well as via the bite of an infected mosquito, a handful of athletes declared they would not be participating in Rio 2016.

Other big names, including Irish golfer Rory Mcllroy and UK heptathlete Jessica Ennis Hill, said they would be in Rio after having initially expressed concern about travelling.

Long jumper Greg Rutherford, who won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, is even thought to have frozen his sperm as a precaution before he travels to defend his title in Rio.

The stakes have been raised further by a recent letter calling on the WHO to recommend that the Rio Olympics should be cancelled over fears about Zika.

The open letter has been signed by more than 200 academics and specialists, among them prominent Brazilian anthropologist Deborah Diniz.

"There is a clear risk to global health in sponsoring these Olympic Games inviting half a million people to Brazil," she argues.

"Having an epidemic like this poses concrete risks to women of reproductive age."

Backlash

Such arguments brought a rapid backlash from other specialists, who said the outbreak was now under control.

Political leaders in Rio, including the city's often outspoken mayor, Eduardo Paes, also reacted.

Mr Paes told the BBC that calls for the Olympics to be called off were a complete overreaction.

"It's completely crazy," said Mr Paes, who has also had to defend a series of other setbacks associated with the Games, including severe delays to critical transport networks and broken promises to clean up the city's chronically polluted waterways.

"At this time of the year, in August, when the Olympics are going on, there are no cases of dengue or Zika because of the weather," he said.

"I don't want to minimise it at all but there's a lot of exaggeration going on."

The mayor is adamant that public information campaigns and greater general awareness about Zika are having an impact.

Old habits die hard

We joined one such campaign "on patrol" in the sprawling working class suburb of Jacareipagua, about a mile from the main Olympic Park to the south of Rio.

A team of public health officials in brand-new uniforms knocked on doors in streets around the local clinic to inform residents about the importance of taking precautions against disease-carrying mosquitoes.

"We show them how to cover up areas of still or stagnant water, where the Aedes [mosquitoes] might breed," a team leader told me.

But in these areas, in particular, old habits die hard.

"I don't use repellent - I never have," said local resident Paulo Jose, reflecting the widely held view that somehow people here are immune to diseases like Zika and dengue fever.

As Paulo Jose was listening to the advice, I must have caught and squashed at least five mosquitoes in the space of 30 seconds.

The white-washed wall was stained red with little spots of blood, evidence that the insects had recently been feeding.

Notwithstanding the difficulties in getting the message through in some areas, the Brazilian government says it is dedicating unprecedented resources to the fight against Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases.

In Rio de Janeiro alone, the government says it has allocated more than $17.5m (£12.4) to "reinforce" the local health network during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

They say there will be more ambulances, extra health professionals and at least 3,000 people working on anti-Zika campaigns in the city.

Best hope

Verifiable figures for people who contracted Zika are difficult to pin down and vary wildly from state to state, not helped by the fact that many of those infected show few if any symptoms at all.

There is still a lot to discover about the Zika virus, how it is contracted and what other conditions, in addition to microcephaly, it may be responsible for.

There is no vaccine yet, for example, and definitive tests to show if someone has definitely had the virus are still not widely available.

Cancelling the Olympic Games would be an extreme measure at this late stage and perhaps, indeed, a measure too far.

The best hope, for the Games organisers and Rio city officials, may be a continuation of the extremely cold weather we have been having in Brazil recently.

Temperatures have been so low the mosquito population in parts of Brazil could be decimated, for the duration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games at least.

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Rio Olympics: The trouble with Aedes aegypti

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It seems almost inconceivable that the world's biggest sporting event could be derailed by a tiny insect, the Aedes aegypti mosquito. However distant or unlikely that possibility is, Brazil's government is going to great lengths to persuade athletes and visitors that Rio de Janeiro will be perfectly safe come the Olympic Games opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium on 5 August.

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Her baby, Luiz Felipe, was born with microcephaly, a rare neurological disorder with long-term physical and mental repercussions that has been linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus that is spreading throughout the Americas.

"At first, I wasn't concerned because the doctor where I delivered didn't tell me there was anything wrong," Santos said, as she cradled her baby in her arms. "It wasn't until I turned on the television that day that I first heard of Zika."

The Zika virus was first detected in Brazil last April. It's transmitted by the aedes aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue, chikungunya and the West Nile virus. While its symptoms -- fever, rash and joint pain -- are relatively mild, health officials around the globe believe the virus is associated with a surge in microcephaly cases, a birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads.

Luiz Felipe is among the more than 4,000 cases that have been reported in Brazil in the past few months -- a significant increase compared to the 147 cases reported nationally in 2014.

The drought-stricken impoverished state of Pernambuco has been the hardest hit, registering 33% of recent cases. In the capital, Recife, Oswaldo Cruz Hospital has become the main triage center for confused mothers from all over the state.

"One day, two or three cases arrived, then it increased to four, then to 20," said Dr. Angela Rocha, a pediatric infectologist who has treated many of these infants. "Now, we don't know when this is going to stop. It's a disease that does not have a vaccine yet, the only way to control it is to eliminate the vector."

Many of the affected mothers, such as Santos, live in precarious homes near standing water and open sewage systems that are fertile grounds for the female mosquito that carries the virus.

To control the spread, the Brazilian health ministry announced plans to deploy more than 220,000 troops throughout the country to treat potential sites of larvae nests, such as water drums and flower pots.

Doctors are advising pregnant women to wear mosquito repellent and long sleeves during daytime hours. Some, such as Rocha, are even going as far as recommending they postpone getting pregnant.

"The whole world needs to be on high alert now," Rocha said. "We still don't know what other proportions it could take."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Zika has already been detected in more than 25 countries. In Rio de Janeiro, local authorities have pledged to fumigate on a daily basis in the venues where the 2016 Olympic Games will be held, beginning as early as April.

As for Luiz Felipe, Santos said she will continue to take him to physical therapy three times a week during her maternity leave. She is scheduled to return to her job as a store clerk in March, and, as the sole breadwinner in her family, fears continuing his care in the long term could be challenging.

"God only knows the limitations that await him. Doctors say he could lose his sight, his hearing, his ability to walk or that he could have severe brain damage," Santos said. "What gives me strength is the love I feel for him and knowing that he's not alone."

Follow the latest updates on the Zika virus at CNN.com/zika

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zika virus victims: children born with disorders  - cnn

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Zika virus victims: Children born with disorders - CNN

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Her baby, Luiz Felipe, was born with microcephaly, a rare neurological disorder with long-term physical and mental repercussions that has been linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus that is spreading throughout the Americas.

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Updated May 14, 2016 12:21:07

The Rio Olympic Games must not proceed - that is the warning from an international health expert who says the Zika virus poses a bigger threat than many authorities are willing to admit.

This week the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) issued a statement saying "athletes can head to Rio with confidence, knowing the appropriate measures are in place against Zika".

At the same time an article published in the Harvard Public Health Review, by Professor Amir Attaran of Ottawa University, warned Zika was flourishing in Rio and posed the potential for a global catastrophe.

Speaking to ABC NewsRadio's The Ticket, he issued a blunt warning.

But for the Olympics, would anyone in their right mind send a half million people into the heart an epidemic to pick it up and return them to all corners of the world?

"There are now 7,000 children that the Brazilian government is investigating for microcephaly - that's the condition where the poor kids are born with shrunken heads and brain damage," he said.

"That sort of damage could easily spread by sending in, not just the athletes, but the 500,000 tourists from abroad to Rio where they can become infected and return to other countries, including Australia, and help spread this disease."

He said Zika was also linked to adult conditions such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, which attacks the central nervous system.

"Rio is ground zero of the epidemic. In fact, no state in Brazil has more cases of Zika than Rio," Professor Attaran said.

"My basic point is this, but for the Olympics, would anyone in their right mind send a half million people into the heart an epidemic to pick it up and return them to all corners of the world? Of course not, that would be foolish.

"But because of the Olympics, we're pretending this is not a problem? That's just too illogical and unethical for words."

Shortly after the article in the Harvard Public Health Review became public, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a statement saying it continued to advise the Government of Brazil and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

It did not refute any of Professor Attaran's claims.

WHO's position 'incredibly irresponsible', Attaran says

He said the WHO had warned Olympics visitors to stay away from crowds, impoverished areas and places with bad sanitation, but that was near impossible in Rio.

He described the WHO's position as "incredibly irresponsible, disingenuous and dangerous".

"This is a question of money corrupting the Olympic and public health worlds," Professor Attaran said.

"These are multi-billion-dollar games, the sponsors are companies you know - McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Samsung and others - and it seems as though the money muscle has overcome the common sense.

"If we could just postpone the games or move them to somewhere else - perhaps even to Sydney - we would not be running the risk with human life.

"And we must think of those children - there's 7,000 of them in Brazil being investigated now for microcephaly - they will never have a normal day of life.

"Is it really worth risking that for an Olympic games? Because I can tell you brain damage is no game and that's what we are talking about."

At the AOC's annual general meeting last week, Australia's most senior Olympic official, Kevan Gosper, warned there had been much focus on suggesting pregnant women should not travel to the games.

Mr Gosper said nothing had been done to warn males they could become infected and carry the virus for up to six months.

He suggested all athletes returning from Rio should be tested.

Professor Attaran's warning was effectively dismissed by the AOC's Medical Commission.

Topics: health, epidemiology---epidemics-and-pandemics, olympics-summer, olympic-games-organising-committee, sport, brazil

First posted May 13, 2016 18:38:51

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Rio Olympics should be cancelled to avoid Zika spreading: health expert

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Updated May 14, 2016 12:21:07 The Rio Olympic Games must not proceed - that is the warning from an international health expert who says the Zika virus poses a bigger threat than many authorities are willing to admit.