Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Yemen do not now have many travelers to countries with local Zika virus transmission, so travel to Brazil represents a bigger jump in the risk for them.
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“Pregnant women should not travel to countries with Zika transmission, and if they must travel, should be extremely careful to avoid mosquito bites”, said health department epidemiologist Michelle Feist in the release.
Using a risk-analysis model that included such factors as countries’ current Zika transmission rates, climate, and estimated mosquito populations, the CDC was able to assess what kind of additional public health risk is presented by the Games.
According to the Brazilian Tourism Board, about 350,000-500,000 global visitors and athletes from 207 countries are expected to travel to Rio de Janeiro for the Games, the CDC said. He says the group of people he takes know all about the virus. It is transmitted primarily through the bite of an infected mosquito but can also be spread through sex. The male traveler was infected with the virus while in a known Zika region outside of the United States.
Four countries are most at risk from a Zika outbreak as a result of travel related to the Rio Olympics and Paralympic Games, a US health agency said on Wednesday.
Death from the virus is rare, though a Utah man died at the end of June, becoming the first USA resident who was infected with Zika to die, the CDC reported Friday. That sounds like a lot of people who could contract Zika from mosquitoes in Brazil – the country hardest hit by the Zika virus – and then carry the virus back home.
“Fortunately, she’s not pregnant, but did travel to an area where there is ongoing Zika transmission, in Jamaica, and did have symptoms”.
“People have asked me if Athletes will go and I think Yes”. The virus has been linked to pregnancy loss, growth restriction in the womb and vision problems in babies. In fact, eliminating Olympic-related travel would address less than 1 percent of the annual travel from areas affected by Zika to the rest of the world, according to the report.
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Microcephaly is a birth defect in which the baby’s brain doesn’t develop fully, and therefore the head is smaller than normal.
