Rio Will Be Success Despite ‘Situation of Crisis’: Bach

Dr. Bruce Aylward, who runs WHO’s outbreak response department, said any country that has the Aedes mosquito should be concerned about the possibility of the Zika virus arriving.

“The IOC has made a decision to invite the highest-qualified refugee athletes to the Olympic Games in Rio”, said IOC Chief Thomas Bach at a refugee camp in Greece.

“The Olympic and Paralympic venues will be inspected on a daily basis during the Rio 2016 Games to ensure that there are no puddles of stagnant water, and therefore minimize the risk of coming into contact with mosquitoes”, added Rio 2016 spokesman Phil Wilkinson.

The flame for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will pass through a refugee camp in Athens and one refugee will be among the torch bearers, the head of the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday.

“At the same time, we are assisting high-level refugee athletes to continue their sports careers”, he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is due to hold a crisis meeting on Monday (February 1) to decide if Zika should be treated as a global emergency, with 1.5 million cases in Brazil.

The International Olympic Committee sent a note to all national Olympic committees outlining the latest medical advice concerning Zika, the most recent problem for a country already dealing with a severe economic crisis and a sprawling corruption scandal.

Zika is transmitted through mosquito bites.

Concerns are growing about the Olympics, which are likely to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to host city Rio de Janeiro in August.

Zika is believed to cause birth defects in pregnant women.

Zika has spread to more than 20 nations and territories in the Western Hemisphere, according to the World Health Organisation, illustrating how quickly the epidemic can expand even without a big worldwide gathering.

“People have called to ask, ‘If this explodes, how would I cancel my trip?'” said Anbritt Stengele, president of Sports Traveler, a travel company in Chicago that specialises in packages for major sporting events.

In a statement released on Friday, the New Zealand Olympic Committee said they would provide government advice to team members.

Five British tourists have caught the virus so far, but the aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the strain, has now been sighted in Kent and West Sussex.