Zika: Olympics plans announced by Rio authorities
The Brazilian authorities have announced plans to prevent the spread of the Zika virus during the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games later this year.
An outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease - which is being linked to severe birth defects - has caused growing concern in Brazil and abroad.
Inspections of Olympic facilities will begin four months before the Games to get rid of mosquito breeding grounds.
Daily sweeps will also take place during the Games.
But fumigation would only be an option on a case-by-case basis because of concerns for the health of the athletes and visitors.
The Brazilian health ministry says it is also banking on the fact that the Games are taking place in the cooler, drier month of August when mosquitoes are far less evident and there are considerably fewer cases of mosquito-borne viruses.
A British Olympic Association spokesperson said that it would be monitoring the situation over the coming months and its medical team had been liaising with specialists at the London School of Tropical Medicine.
The aim is to ensure that team members are "given the most up-to-date travel medicine advice, which includes information on bite prevention strategies," the spokesperson said.
"This information has already been shared with all sports and it will be continually updated prior to departure for the Olympic Games."
What is Zika virus?
Image copyright AP
Image caption Babies born with abnormally small heads may face lifelong difficulties
- It is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever and yellow fever
- It was first discovered in Africa in the 1940s but is now spreading in Latin America
- Scientists say there is growing evidence of a link to microcephaly, that leads to babies being born with small heads
- While Zika virus can lead to fever and a rash, most people show no symptoms, and there is no known cure
- The only way to fight Zika is to clear stagnant water where mosquitoes breed, and to protect against mosquito bites
The announcement by the Rio authorities comes amidst growing attention around the world over the large number of cases of Zika in the Americas.
Brazil has the largest-known outbreak of the virus which has been linked to a spike in birth defects in new-born babies whose mothers were bitten by the mosquito during pregnancy.
The US, Canada and EU health agencies have issued warnings saying pregnant women should avoid travelling to Brazil and other countries in the Americas which have registered cases of Zika.
El Salvador Advises Against Pregnancy Until 2018 in Answer to Zika Fears
SAN SALVADOR — Reacting to the rapid spread of the
Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean, health officials in
El Salvador are urging women not to get pregnant until 2018 in an effort to halt a surge of
birth defects that are suspected to stem from the mosquito-borne disease.
The entire region has erupted with
concern over the virus, and each country has taken measures to combat its spread. Other Latin American countries, such as Colombia and Ecuador, as well as Jamaica in the Caribbean, have recommended delaying pregnancies, though not for an entire two years.
The rest of Latin America has responded with different tactics, ranging from widespread fumigation efforts to directing citizens not to be bitten by the Aedes mosquito, which is known to carry yellow, chikungunya and dengue fevers.
So far, the hardest hit nation in the region has been
Brazil, where more than a million cases have been confirmed, including nearly 4,000 cases of
microcephaly in newborns that could be linked to Zika.
Microcephaly is a rare, incurable condition in which an infant’s head is abnormally small.
El Salvador appears to have taken the most dramatic step so far, though the recommendation this week is not official policy. In a region that is largely Roman Catholic, the request has raised concern from the church, and many Salvadorans question the rationale for upending the national birthrate in order to counter the suspected effects of a virus.
Civil groups have also questioned the practicality of the recommendation, noting that in El Salvador pregnancies are often unplanned. Others say it is a testament to the lack of a coherent strategy from the government, and point to the difficulty of combating something as prevalent and evasive as the mosquito.
Salvadoran officials defended the measure in an interview.
“If we don’t make any recommendations to the population, we could have a high incidence of microcephaly,” said Eduardo Antonio Espinoza Fiallos, the vice minister of health. “Of those children, 99 percent will survive, but with limitations in their mental faculties.”
For most people, the effects of the Zika virus are mild. Symptoms are flulike and can last up to a week, with victims sometimes unaware that they have contracted the virus. Zika has no known cure.
But a recent spike in cases of microcephaly in infants has health experts worried that the condition could be the result of women contracting Zika while pregnant.
