The World Health Organization last week rejected a call from 150 health experts to consider postponing or moving the Olympics due to Zika in hard-hit Brazil.
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Public health experts, however, applauded the move for keeping the subject in the news and perhaps spurring some to initiate discussions with their health care providers.
Francisco Rodriguez, 34, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, told ESPN that he contracted the virus in the off-season, when he was in Venezuela.
Halloran says that type of mosquito is more common to southern areas with warmer climates, particularly Central and South American countries, parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific islands.
USA track cyclist Sarah Hammer, who will compete in two events at the Rio Games, told the AP that she is not concerned about Zika but that she is educating herself before traveling to Brazil. Based on its latest assessment, the World Health Organization said, “cancelling or changing the location of the 2016 Olympics will not significantly alter the worldwide spread of the Zika Virus”.
To limit any potential spread of Zika virus via mosquitoes, health officials on the federal, state and local level are deploying a three-pronged strategy: improving mosquito control; expanding their ability to test for Zika; and urging the public to protect themselves against mosquitoes. The most common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes.
“It’s something people have to be careful with and worry about”. It has been shown to cause microcephaly in babies and is linked to some cases of muscle-weakening disease Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults.
“At this rhythm we are totally confident we will have a sold-out games”, he said.
“We have had full support in all these seven years”.
For now, she says, the CDC recommends that those traveling to affected countries follow guidelines to avoid mosquito bites and the possibility of transmitting Zika upon their return.
In a release on May 28, the World Health Organization stated that “based on the current assessment of Zika virus circulating in nearly 60 countries globally and 39 countries in the Americas, there is no public health justification for postponing or cancelling the games”.
Women there have been told not to get pregnant for two years to prevent giving birth to children with the life-threatening condition. So for me to go down there, even if I was to get Zika, it’s six months and it’s a virus and it works its way out of your system.
There are now 162 cases of Zika virus in Florida, 38 of those involve pregnant women.
“We’re not expecting disease transmission in Nassau County, but we are preparing for it”, he said.
As one athlete explains, though, it isn’t just pregnant women who need to be concerned. “Bringing a half a million people to the epicenter of the epidemic is a serious concern to the people coming to the event as well as the broader population of the world”.
The true risk of Zika is to a developing fetus.
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The fix to a global health concern, could be right here in Georgia.
