Athletes and spectators attending the Rio Olympics will have a greater risk of being infected by the mosquito-borne Zika virus according to specialists in infectious diseases.
A number of athletes have already voiced concerns over going to Brazil, with Australian golfer Marc Leishman deciding against competing due the health of his wife, who had been prone to infection after a life-threatening illness last year.
The problem with the Zika virus is that the majority of those infected don’t show any symptoms. There is no vaccine and the virus has been linked to microcephaly and other possible birth defects in newborns.
With the virus already a major problem in Brazil, there’s concerns the estimated half a million visitors to Rio could create a bigger crisis with the Aedes mosquito infecting more people, while sexual transmission is likely to establish new outbreaks.
Writing for the Harvard Public Health Review, Dr Amir Attaran has called on the Games to be moved as a matter of public safety.
“All it takes is one infected traveller,” Attaran said.
“Mass migration into the heart of an outbreak is a public health no-brainer. Given the choice between accelerating a dangerous new disease or not — for it is impossible that Games will slow Zika down — the answer should be a no-brainer for the Olympic organisers too. Putting sentimentality aside, clearly the Rio 2016 Games must not proceed.”
Dr Attaran says if the Games do go ahead as planned there could be dire consequences and it’s not too late to cancel.
“For while the financial victims can recover their losses or even go bankrupt and rebuild, for the global health victims there is no such thing as going “bankrupt” on a virus or pandemic, he said.”
Major League Baseball certainly didn’t take any chances with the Zika virus by re-locating a series between Pittsburg and Florida that was scheduled to be played in Puerto Rico after concerns were raised by players.
With less than 100-days to go it appears the IOC won’t be following Dr Attaran’s advice. It means athletes and spectators will have to assess the risks and make a choice.
The Australian government’s Smart Traveller website says preventative measures are the same as those for any mosquito-transmitted disease including using insect repellents, wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants and sleeping in screened or air-conditioned rooms.
Countries are, therefore, going to great lengths to protect their athletes including the South Korean team, which has reportedly made uniforms that can be laced with insect repellent.
It will be interesting to see if more athletes choose to boycott the Games as the event draws closer. One wonders what the IOC response might be if an athlete like Usain Bolt pulled out due to the Zika virus.
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