Health

WHO emergency panel on Zika to meet next week, review Olympics guidance

WHO emergency panel on Zika to meet next week, review Olympics guidance

By REUTERS

An edes aegypti mosquito is seen inside a test tube as part of a research on preventing the spread of the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases at a control and prevention center in Guadalupe, neighbouring Monterrey, Mexico, in this March 8, 2016 file photo. Photo: Reuters

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation's Emergency Committee on Zika will hold a regular meeting early next week to review its recommendations including regarding the Rio Olympics, a WHO spokesman said on Tuesday. The independent experts, who last convened on March 8, will 'look at evidence around the Olympics and most likely review the travel guidance around that,' WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a news briefing. The date will be announced shortly. Scientists are telling the United Nations health agency that the risk of global spread of the mosquito-borne virus is 'not significantly higher' due to the Games that start on August 5, he added.