The government of Brazil has explained that female athletes and spectators coming to the country for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games have no risk if they are not pregnant.
President Dilma Rousseff’s chief of staff, Jacques Wagner was quoted by Reuters as saying that women who are not pregnant have zero risk from zika virus after the World Health Organization declared the virus a global public health emergency.
“We have to explain to those coming to Brazil, the athletes, that there is zero risk if you are not a pregnant woman,” Wagner said.
Cases of zika virus, which is spread by aedes aegypti mosquitoes, have been on the rise in Brazil and the rest of Southern America ahead of Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Following the establishment of a link between the virus and microcephaly – a condition which can lead to babies being born with small heads and under-developed brains, pregnant women have been advised against traveling to zika infested countries.
Other symptoms associated with the virus are fever, rashes, joint pain and conjunctivitis.
Notwithstanding the WHO declaration, President of the International Olympic Committee, IOC, Thomas Bach is confident that athletes will feel safe travelling to Brazil for the games.
I“We welcome this decision by the World Health Organization because it helps raise even more awareness and to provide even more resources to fight the virus.
“We are in close contact with the WHO and we see also that so far there is no travel ban being pronounced by the WHO.
“We also see that the Olympic Games will be taking place in the winter time which is not the preferred breeding time for the mosquitoes," he said.
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