Bach: ‘No intention’ by any countries to pull out of Rio

Brazil President Dilma Roussef said Brazil will have considerable success fighting mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus and outbreak will not compromise the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this August.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Dr. Richard Budgett said there are no health warnings against traveling to Brazil, except for pregnant women, and stressed that no consideration has been given to postponing or canceling the games. “The IOC absolutely is not complacent”.

And yet between now and the August games in Rio many will do some serious soul searching on whether it is worth the risk to their health and to their future offspring to make the trip to a nation that is currently Ground Zero for the Zika virus outbreak.

According to Marcos Espinal, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Department of Contagious Diseases, the estimates of Zika virus in Latin America is around 2 or 3 million infections, Outbreak News Today reports. Women are considered to be at heightened risk as health officials seek to determine if Zika is linked to cases of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by an abnormally small head. Cases of the virus total 31,555, the institute said in a epidemiology bulletin, among them 5,013 pregnant women.

Duran said organizers were telling athletes to use repellents to protect themselves against mosquito bites, the primary means of transmission of the virus.

Bach, speaking ahead of the opening ceremony of the Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, said he has “full confidence” in the actions being undertaken by the Brazilian authorities and global health organizations to combat the outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus. “We can give the reassurance that authorities in Brazil are taking it extremely seriously.

He added: “Concern and worry is appropriate, but there is no restriction on travel”. “Absolutely not, ” he said.

“Our main job is to calm down everybody”, said Rio organizing committee spokesperson Mario Andrada. “The panic is starting (to be) a little too much.

U.S. Olympics officials hired experts on infectious diseases to advise the committee on the Zika virus.

Some athletes, most notably USA soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo, have expressed fears about going to the Olympics. “All I can do is speak for myself.

Samsung users can also download the NextVR app from the Oculus store to enjoy the Lillehammer 2016 content. Galaxy users who have never used NextVR will need to install the app before viewing the content. If this test goes over well during the youth games, I wonder if Samsung and the Olympic committee will offer VR content during the normal Olympic games.