US women’s national soccer team to be briefed on Zika virus

The spread of the Zika virus in Brazil needs to be monitored but is not a threat to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Germany’s chief Olympic doctor said on Wednesday.

The CDC’s Emergency Operations Center has only been on Level 1 status three other times since it was first formed in 2002: during last year’s Ebola outbreak, the swine flu outbreak in 2009 and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Public health officials have been working to establish the connection between pregnant women who contracted the mosquito-borne Zika virus and babies born with cases of microcephaly, or unusually small heads, as well as between Zika and Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks its nervous system.

“Athletes should come to the Olympic Games”, Grangeiro said.

In the US, the CDC recommends ophthalmic evaluation, including a retinal examination, within the first month of life for infants with microcephaly whose mothers traveled to or resided in an area with Zika virus transmission during the course of their pregnancy.

“The LPGA is aware of recent reports regarding the Zika virus and has been gathering information while staying in close contact with the International Golf Federation (IGF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC)”, Daly-Donofrio said.

The African country boasts some of the best runners in the world, expected to win many medals at the games.

Solo, 34, is considering skipping the Olympics due to the Zika virus outbreak, according to Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.

The hardest hit country is Brazil, which hosts the Summer Olympics starting in August.

Dr. Lee Jampol, a professor of ophthalmology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago, said it’s not clear how much the lesions will affect the children’s vision as they grow.

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee is confident that the games will not be affected by the virus. If a woman is infected with rubella during pregnancy, the virus can cause congenital birth defects impacting the babies brain, eyes, heart and other organs. However, a causal link has not been proven. Mr Wario said that the health and sports ministries would continue to consult and he could only make an “apt decision” with advice from the health ministry. But will the team have to do it without star goalkeeper Hope Solo? “Competing in the Olympics should be a safe environment for every athlete, male and female alike”. (FWIW, British health officials say six months for men who showed Zika symptoms or tested positive and 28 days for men who did not.) This can put a wrench in couples’ plans to conceive, too.

“It’s not going to deter me from going”, she told Reuters.

Zika is transmitted by mosquitoes and there is now no vaccines. The organization continues to update their guidelines about Zika virus, as well as their guidance about how clinicians should treat pregnant women who may have been exposed.