No evidence of Olympic Zika spread, WHO committee says
[GENEVA] There is no evidence of a significant spread of the Zika virus due to the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, boding well for a "low risk assessment" at the Paralympics this month, the World Health Organization's outbreaks and emergencies head said on Friday.
"Certainly we feel fairly confident that the risk assessment that there would be no significant increased transmission due to the Olympics is very much on track," Peter Salama said after a meeting of the WHO's emergency committee on Zika.
Nobody returning from the games has reported Zika symptoms, although most cases are asymptomatic, he said.
The latest country to suffer an outbreak of the virus, Singapore, has had textbook response to the outbreak, he said. The committee's chairman David Heymann said Singapore was expected to sequence the virus strain in its outbreak next week.
REUTERS
For all our Zika coverage, go to bt.sg/zika
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Economy & Policy
Daily Debrief: What Happened Today (Apr 26)
Singapore must prepare for slower growth at higher costs: MAS
Outgoing Singapore, Indonesia leaders to hold their final retreat in Bogor on Apr 29
Singapore factory output reverses into negative territory in March, down 9.2%
Singapore’s growth should strengthen to ‘around potential rate’, output gap to close by end-2024: MAS
Gan Kim Yong visits US and Canada; to mark 20th anniversary of US-Singapore FTA