2016 Olympics must be cancelled due to Zika virus says expert

Health expert, Amir Attaran, has officially called for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to be cancelled due to fears it poses a danger of the Zika virus spreading globally: “It cannot possibly help when an estimated 500,000 foreign tourists flock into Rio for the Games, potentially becoming infected, and returning to their homes where both local Aedes mosquitoes and sexual transmission can establish new outbreaks,” he argues in the Harvard Public Health Review, adding that by spreading the virus faster and farther, the Games steal away the very thing scientists need right now: time. He also argues that continuing with the Games goes against the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) ethical principals and responsibility to the athletes and notes that Rio de Janeiro is “not on the fringes of the outbreak”, as was first thought, “but inside its heart”, citing a “very recent study” which claims that of the women in Rio de Janeiro confirmed with Zika infections during pregnancy, 29% had fetal abnormalities. He also accuses the World Health Organisation (WHO) of being incompetent and dangerous by deferring the decision to the IOC, saying it reminds him of the mistakes the WHO made over Ebola. And, as we have noted, this is all taking place as Olympic ticket sales stall, unease rises that the athletes facilities will not be ready in time, along with the suspension of its President, economic collapse, political scandals, a falling currency and high crime rates.

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