“You can hear the guys mumbling about it, it’s definitely stuck in their heads and I would go so far as to say anyone going is not comfortable going”.
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“The Olympics would represent less than 0.25 percent of all travel to Zika-affected areas”, Dr. Thomas Frieden, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director, said last week to reporters.
Athletes will have to make their own decisions as to whether to risk Zika for the potential glory of Olympic gold.
Around 1,500 babies are thought to have been affected by the outbreak, which has caused leading U.S. cyclist Tejay van Garderen to pull out due to the perceived health risk to his pregnant wife.
Still, it’s interesting to hear the other side on Zika, and it’ll be even more interesting to see how many other athletes share the sentiment of Douglas and Biles as we get closer to this summer’s games.
The Zika virus is why Charl Schwartzel is skipping the Olympics, and world No. 1 Jason Day is starting to think twice about going to Rio.
A bite of Aedes Aegypti mosquito causes Zika, but the latest case has come up as addition to growing evidence that the virus could get transmitted via sexual contact more readily than thought.
WHO spokeswoman Nyka Alexander said the organization doesn’t have the mandate for canceling or delaying the Olympic Games and they only make risk assessments of the Zika outbreak, Medical Daily reported (via Reuters).
Last week, WHO rejected a call by nearly 150 health experts demanding the postponement or change of venue for the event.
Zulema Arenas #548 of Peru competes in the women’s 3000 meter steeplechase during the Ibero American Athletics Championships – Aquece Rio Test Event for the Rio 2016 Olympics at Olympic Stadium on May 14, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
“Should that happen to poor, as-yet unaffected places (e.g., most of South Asia and Africa) the suffering can be great”, the letter read.
The U.S. Olympic team will be officially set after the upcoming Trials.
The current Zika outbreak originated in Brazil in the spring of 2015.
Brazil has been the hardest-hit of the approximately 60 nations that have reported Zika outbreaks – and has by far the most cases of brain-damaged babies linked to the virus, nearly 1500.
French researchers also reported Friday that the virus can possibly be spread via oral sex.
According to the World Health Organization director general, the exact date of the committee meeting will be announced next week.
“The last meeting was 8 March and the June meeting is being planned”.
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Heymann also cautioned national health authorities to advise their own athletes and citizens to protect themselves against the disease, especially when in Brazil, and to practice safe sex upon returning to their home countries for at least three weeks.
