Ongoing reports about pollution at the sailing venue for the 2016 Olympic Games has prompted this statement from the world sailing authority responsible for the management of the sailing events to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil… Currently, officials there test the waters for bacteria, but do not test for viruses-bad news for the almost 1,400 athletes who will compete in sailing, swimming, canoeing, and rowing there.
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Cities around the bay routinely pump untreated sewage into its waters and parts of the coastline are littered with garbage such as tires, sofas, old televisions and all kinds of plastic detritus.
N.B., To be fair, the AP did not state where they physically collected their water samples, nor did they release any information about the tide cycle at the time that their sample was taken, two key factors that could have a significant impact on their findings, and which may or may not make this independent test germane to the areas where Olympic sailors will be competing.
Human adenovirus multiply in the intestinal and respiratory tracts of people.
Several athletes who are already training for South America’s first Olympic Games have reportedly recently fallen ill with the fevers, diarrhea, and vomiting associated with the bacteria and viruses found in Rio de Janeiro’s waters.
Griffith offered up a few advice to the athletes, sharing, “If I were going to be in the Olympics, I would probably go early and get exposed and build up my immunity system to these viruses before I had to compete, because I don’t see how they’re going to solve this sewage problem”.
This ensures that Olympic athletes are nearly certain to come into contact with disease-causing viruses.
Beachgoers wade into the waters of Copacabana Beach July 14 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
But “we are aware that at other bays and lakes (in Rio) that the virus situation is awful”, Otsuka said.
Many water and health experts in the U.S. and Europe are pushing regulatory agencies to include viral testing in determining water quality.
“The ITU has contracted with the local organizing committee to conduct the water-quality tests, and we trust the results”, Shin Otsuka, executive board member of the worldwide Triathlon Union, said through an interpreter.
Zee, who has long researched pollution in Guanabara Bay, added that the AP testing “was done in a trustworthy lab”.
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“For years now we’ve seen the flow of raw sewage, which contains fecal coliforms and other bacteria, viruses, protozoa and an infinite number of pathogenic microorganisms that can cause everything from ringworm to hepatitis”, Moscatelli said. Global Olympic Committee officials said that clearing the pollution will be their biggest obstacle over the next year. “We are in direct conversation with our athletes and listening closely to any concerns”.
