New Zealand athletes to discuss Zika risk

Brazilians put aside whatever concerns they may have about the Zika epidemic and the country’s ongoing political and economic crisis and enjoyed the start of Carnival, with 93 parties organized on Saturday by “blocos”, or street bands, in Rio de Janeiro alone.

The Rio carnival could be called real dream for hungry mosquitoes: five days of uninterrupted partying in the streets bringing together millions of people, inviting mass bare ankles, legs uncovered and bare torsos.

“I wish we knew more about Zika today”, CDC director Tom Frieden told reporters.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of worldwide concern”.

“We have taken due precautions there”.

“We related it to music and culture as a way of calling attention to the need for people to keep their houses clean and prevent dengue, as well as all the other diseases like Chikungunya and Zika”, said one of the local residents of the parade. But while Zika infections generally lead to mild, flu-like symptoms, health officials are alarmed because the virus is also linked to a huge jump in microcephaly cases, in which babies are born with dramatically smaller heads and incomplete brain development.

“I’m not concerned about that in particular but it is a bit of a worry because we obviously don’t want it to come back to Australia”.

Regardless of whether or not Brazil will actually move forward with the Olympics, travel to the country will no doubt be affected: According to data from the World Bank, countries where the virus has been confirmed or where it is expected to spread-the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and parts of South America-are at risk of losing some $63.9 billion in worldwide tourism. Authorities are also pointing out that in six months, it will be the southern hemisphere winter, meaning many fewer mosquitoes.

Sports Minister George Hilton said in a statement Thursday that “the Brazilian government is fully committed to ensure that the 2016 Rio games take place in an atmosphere of security and tranquility”.

Big ensembles competing in the Sambadrome say that city funding has dried up and that private sponsors are also running scared, while the plunging value in the national currency means importing mostly Chinese fabrics for costumes has driven up prices. “For them [travel] is evidently not recommended”, Rousseff’s chief of staff, Wagner, said on Monday.

“Carnival is for forgetting all this”, she said.

“The place is nearly empty. They’re now trying to bargain you down, or not even buying at all”, said 58-year-old Alves, adding she’s seen revelers dragging along their own portable coolers to save on alcohol.

Zika is just one of the challenges facing organisers as they attempt to beat construction deadlines amid funding cuts prompted by the collapse in the Brazilian economy.