US athletes urged to skip Rio Olympics over Zika threat
The US Olympic Committee has told American sports federations that athletes and staff worried for their health over the Zika virus should consider not going to the 2016 Olympic Games this summer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The message was delivered in a conference call involving US Olympic officials and leaders of US sports federations in January, according to Reuters, citing two people who participated in the call.
US sports federations were told that no one should go to Brazil "if they don't feel comfortable going. Bottom line," said Donald Anthony, president and board chairman of USA Fencing.
Alan Ashley, the US Olympic Committee’s chief of sport performance, briefed the leaders of the federations.
American Olympics officials have acknowledged that at least some athletes and support staff may not attend the international games.
Since April 2015, a large, ongoing outbreak of Zika virus that began in Brazil has spread to 33 countries, most of them in South and Central America and the Caribbean.
Global health authorities suspect the mosquito-borne virus has caused a spike in Brazil of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by an abnormally small head.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising pregnant women or those considering becoming pregnant to avoid travel to places with Zika outbreaks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also declared an international health emergency on February 1.
The US Olympic Committee has not issued its own set of recommendations for athletes and staff beyond what the CDC and WHO have issued.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wrote a letter to national Olympic committees on January 29, saying the IOC’s chief doctors were monitoring the situation closely.
The IOC doctors passed along mosquito avoidance advice, but remained confident the games would go ahead as planned.
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