Zika won’t derail Games in Brazil

UN: VISITORS MUST HAVE MAXIMUM PROTECTION

Country mobilises army to help health workers in ‘ZikaZero’ campaign.

Brasilia

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday she was confident Brazil can host the Rio Olympics safely despite the Zika threat, although she warned of a long battle against the mosquito-borne virus.

Margaret Chan, who was in Brazil for a 48-hour visit, praised the Brazilian government’s efforts to stamp out mosquitoes and its coordination with various international bodies, including the WHO, and the International Olympic Movement, ahead of the Games’ kick-off on August 5.

“We must make sure that people who come here, either for the Games as a visitor, as a participant or athletes, will get the maximum protection they need. And I'm confident that the government can do it”, she said.

But Chan also said it would be a long, hard fight to stamp out the virus strongly suspected of causing a serious birth defect in babies born to mothers infected while pregnant. “The Zika virus is very tricky, very tenacious ... and so is the Aedes aegypti mosquito,” she said. “This is going to be a long journey.”

Brazil is at the centre of a Zika outbreak, with 1.5 million people infected, and authorities have also recorded a spike in microcephaly, a congenital condition that causes abnormally small heads and hampers brain development.

On Tuesday, Brazil’s health ministry reported 583 confirmed cases of babies with microcephaly since October, compared with an annual average of 150. That was a 14.7% rise over the number of confirmed cases the previous week. An estimated 120 babies have died due to the birth defect.

Cases of active Zika transmission have been reported in 28 countries and territories in the Americas and Caribbean.

Countries throughout the region have launched massive operations to eliminate pools of stagnant water where the mosquitoes can breed.

Brazil has mobilised 55 000 members of its armed forces to join 310 000 health workers in its “ZikaZero” campaign. There is no cure against the Zika virus.

The WHO has called the outbreak an international health emergency. –

Picture: AFP ANTIVIRAL TACTICS. Health authorities, with the help of the Cuban army, fumigate against the Aedes aegypti mosquito to prevent the spread of Zika and chikungunya and dengue , also transmitted by mosquitos, in Havana on Tuesday. Cuban President Raul...