--- title: Zika: 125 Health Experts Call to Relocate Brazil Olympics description: 125 health experts have called to relocate the summer Olympics from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil amid the ongoing Zika outbreak. canonical: https://time.com/4350762/health-doctors-zika-rio-de-janeiro-olympics/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-27T15:33:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:53:54.807Z article:section: Health og:title: 125 Health Experts Call to Relocate Brazil Olympics Over Zika Fears og:description: They also say the World Health Organization has a conflict of interest og:url: https://time.com/4350762/health-doctors-zika-rio-de-janeiro-olympics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ba33847f4543259/6988909c2dce011d279e8ce6/zika-brazil.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 file photo, a health workers stands in the Sambadrome spraying insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 1940s and 1950s, Brazilian authorities m og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 125 Health Experts Call to Relocate Brazil Olympics Over Zika Fears twitter:description: They also say the World Health Organization has a conflict of interest twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ba33847f4543259/6988909c2dce011d279e8ce6/zika-brazil.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 125 Health Experts Call to Relocate Brazil Olympics Over Zika Fears > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 27, 2016 3:33 PM UTC  Health workers stand in the Sambadrome spraying insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 26, 2016. Health workers stand in the Sambadrome spraying insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 26, 2016. Leo Correa—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 27, 2016 3:33 PM UTC 125 health experts have called to relocate the summer Olympics from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil amid the ongoing [Zika outbreak](http://time.com/4219582/zika-virus-how-spreads-mosquitoes/?iid=sr-link3). “Currently, many athletes, delegations, and journalists are struggling with the decision of whether to participate in the Rio 2016 Games,” the group of scientists, doctors and medical ethicists wrote to the World Health Organization, [ABC reports](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/zika-fears-prompt-125-public-health-experts-call/story?id=39426429). “We agree with the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommendation](http://time.com/4195030/cdc-zika-virus-travel-alert/?iid=sr-link2) that workers should ‘Consider delaying travel to areas with active [Zika virus](http://time.com/4304583/what-every-woman-need-to-know-about-zika/?iid=sr-link1) transmission’. If that advice were followed uniformly, no athlete would have to choose between risking disease and participating in a competition that many have trained for their whole lives.” **Read More:** [Zika Fears Cause American Olympians to Scramble](http://time.com/4257124/zika-fears-cause-american-olympians-to-scramble/?iid=sr-link1) The letter also claims the WHO has a conflict of interest because of its partnership with the International Olympic Committee. “To prejudge that ‘there’s not going to be a lot of problems,’ before reviewing this evidence \[on Zika virus effects\] is extremely inappropriate of WHO, and suggests that a change in leadership may be required to restore WHO’s credibility,” the letter says. In February, the WHO [declared Zika a global health emergency](http://time.com/4202499/who-zika-public-health-emergency/?iid=sr-link1), the first time in history for a mosquito-borne disease. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4350762/health-doctors-zika-rio-de-janeiro-olympics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4350762/health-doctors-zika-rio-de-janeiro-olympics/"},"headline":"125 Health Experts Call to Relocate Brazil Olympics Over Zika Fears","datePublished":"2016-05-27T15:33:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:53:54.807Z","description":"They also say the World Health Organization has a conflict of interest","url":"https://time.com/4350762/health-doctors-zika-rio-de-janeiro-olympics/","keywords":["Public Health","olympics","Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ba33847f4543259/6988909c2dce011d279e8ce6/zika-brazil.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ba33847f4543259/6988909c2dce011d279e8ce6/zika-brazil.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 file photo, a health workers stands in the Sambadrome spraying insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 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