Roundup: Brazil denounces call for postponement of Olympics, increases funding on Zika

The Brazilian government denounced on Thursday the call for a postponement of the upcoming Olympics or staging the games in another country, while increasing funding for Zika studies, according to a press release.

Brazilian Health Minister Ricardo Barros on Thursday denounced a recent letter from specialists in various countries asking for the upcoming Olympic Games to be delayed or staged in another country due to Zika as "an exaggeration," "an excess of zeal."

"All (health surveillance) measures have already been taken. There is no increased risk of the Zika virus spreading during the Olympics," added the minister while highlighting that Brazil's population only represents 15 percent of the total 1.3 billion people in 60 countries exposed to the virus.

"The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, has already confirmed that she will come to the Olympic Games and this is a sign of safety during this period of low transmission of Zika," the minister noted.

Barros explained that the Olympics is timed in August, a winter time not endemic for the diseases that are transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquito, such as Zika, dengue and chikungunya.

Thursday's allocation of 65 million reais (around 18.5 million U.S. dollars) in funding for Zika studies will be used on the prevention, diagnoses and treatment of infections caused by the Zika virus, according to the press release.

The new funding will merge with the other 130 million reais (around 37.1 million dollars) that the government has already assigned to finance the development of vaccines, serums and scientific studies into the diseases spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

According to the established standards, researchers interested in Thursday's allocation of funding will have to conclude their studies over 48 months.

Brazil is currently experiencing a health emergency due to the Zika virus, which is thought to be responsible for the notable increase in microcephaly cases in newborns, especially in the South American country's northeast region.

The World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization have recently advised pregnant women not to travel to Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics.

According to the latest epidemiology bulletin from Brazil's Health Ministry, the country has registered 91,387 possible Zika cases so far this year. Out of this figure, 31,616 have already been confirmed. Meanwhile, the number of microcephaly cases has reached 1,489 and another 3,162 possible cases in babies are still being investigated. Endi