The World Health Organisation claims there is a "very low risk" of further international spread of the Zika virus as result of the Olympic Games being held in Brazil.
The WHO's Emergency Committee on Zika, a disease linked to birth defects, on Tuesday reaffirmed its previous advice that there should be "no general restrictions on travel and trade with countries, areas and/or territories" with Zika transmission.
The advice included cities in Brazil hosting the Olympics that start on August 5, and with the Paralympic Games that follow in September.
The third meeting of independent experts, which gathers every three months to access the Zika outbreak, came amid intensifying concerns over the staging of the Olympics in Brazil, the country hardest hit by the virus.
"The risks are no different for people going to the Olympics than for other areas where there are outbreaks of Zika," David Heymann, chair of the WHO's expert panel, told reporters at WHO headquarters in Geneva after the meeting.
Brazilian authorities have confirmed more than 1,400 cases of microcephaly in babies whose mothers were exposed to Zika during pregnancy.
Microcephaly is a birth defect marked by small head size that can cause severe developmental problems in babies. The virus has also been linked to Guillain-Barre, a neurological disorder in adults.
International Olympic Committee Chairman Thomas Bach said the WHO's conclusion was "very positive" for the Rio Games.
The latest meeting was touched off by a letter drafted by Amir Attaran, a professor of law and medicine at the University of Ottawa, and signed by a group of more than 200 bioethicists, lawyers and health experts urging the WHO to move or postpone the Rio Games because of the risk that they could amplify the spread of Zika.
Attaran had been invited to take part in WHO's Emergency Committee meeting, but he declined to sign WHO's required confidentiality agreement, and was not permitted to take part.
In an email to Reuters, Attaran called the agreement a "gag clause" that inhibits individual scientists who disagree with the committee from expressing their views.
Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO director of emergencies, said 20 percent of the world's population lived in Zika-affected areas while almost 30 percent of international travel was into and out of such areas. ... "The proportion of that travel that will be affected by the Olympics (is) very, very, very marginal."
The experts noted that Brazil was entering winter months, when mosquito disease transmission is lower. They cautioned travellers to be aware of the risk and take steps to protect themselves from mosquito bites or sexual transmission.
The WHO has advised that pregnant women avoid travel to Zika outbreak areas and that men who have been infected by or exposed to the virus practice safe sex, or abstain from sex, for up to six months.
Reuters sj
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