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More than 100 prominent physicians, bioethicists and scientists from around the world posted a letter May 27 urging World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan to exert pressure on Olympic authorities to move the Olympics from Rio de Janeiro or delay the Games because of public health concerns over the Zika virus, The Washington Post reports.

Brazil, which is hosting the Olympics and the Paralympics, is at the epicenter of the rapidly evolving mosquito-borne epidemic, the source writes.

The letter is signed by 150 individuals from more than a dozen countries, including Brazil, Japan, Israel, Russia, Sweden, South Africa and the United States.

It calls on the WHO to convene an independent group to advise it and the International Olympic Committee, and for authorities to reconsider the decision to hold the Games in Rio.

Meanwhile, late Friday, the WHO said that based on its current assessment, "cancelling or changing the location of the 2016 Olympics will not significantly alter the international spread of Zika virus." It noted that Brazil is one of almost 60 countries and territories, which have reported continuing, spread of Zika by mosquitoes.

"People continue to travel between these countries and territories for a variety of reasons," the statement said. The best way to reduce risk of disease is to follow public health travel advice, the WHO said.

"There is no public health justification for postponing or cancelling the games," the WHO said, as quoted by the newspaper.