“We’re talking about an extreme environment, where the pollution is so high that exposure is imminent and the chance of infection very likely”, Kristina Mena, an expert in waterborne viruses and an associate professor of public health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, told the AP.
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The report prompted sports officials to promise they would do their own viral testing.
Rio’s waters have high viral and bacterial counts not only near shore, but also far offshore where athletes will be swimming and rowing.
At issue are two kinds of testing.
Global competitors have been quite vocal about Brazil’s lax preparations to remedy the filthy conditions. That’s the standard for nations around the globe to monitor waterbodies, mostly because it’s been historically easier and cheaper.
“Rio 2016 follows the expert advice of the World Health Organization, whose guidelines for Safe Recreational Water Environments recommend classifying water through a regular program of microbial water quality testing”, it said.
However, in recent years technological advances have made it simpler and less expensive to monitor viral levels, too.
“The levels of viruses are so high in these Brazilian waters that if we saw those levels here in the United States on beaches, officials would likely close those beaches”, Mena said.
Rio de Janeiro’s waters are contaminated because the city’s sewage is untreated and flowing into Guanabara Bay, the Rodrigo Freitas Lagoon, and the Copacabana Beach. Sewage and industrial waste empties into the water surrounding the city. They also have steadfastly refused to move the sailing, rowing and distance-swimming events to other venues in the country. But the organizers have all but admitted that they will not have enough time before next summer’s Games to properly clean up the waters and ensure athletes’ safety.
The tests showed high viral counts found along the shorelines where raw sewage runs, according to the AP.
Athletes have been trying different measures to protect themselves, like bleaching equipment, taking multiple showers, and preemptive antibiotics, as Gawker notes.
The World Rowing Federation participated in a junior championship in July and 6.7% of 567 rowers fell ill after the competition. Shortly after participating in an Olympic test event in Rio, Olympic sailor Erik Heil was treated at a Berlin hospital for MRSA, a flesh-eating bacteria. You read that correctly: 1.7 million times.
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The follow-up concluded that viruses found more than a kilometer from the Guanabara Bay shores, where sailing events will be held, were no different than the levels found closer to the beaches and sewage sources.
