Zika virus poses low risk at Rio Olympics; says CDC

The global risk that the 2016 Olympic Games could amplify transmission of Zika is low, although the Games could prompt the spread to a few countries where the virus is not already circulating, according to an analysis published on Wednesday by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The finding bolsters a conclusion reached by the World Health Organization last month that the Olympics, scheduled to get under way in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 5, need not be postponed due to Zika.

Doctors across the country are being peppered with questions related to risks of the Zika virus to women of childbearing age and their male partners. Here’s what you need to know. Photo: Scott Dalton for the Wall Street Journal

The 350,000 to 500,000 visitors expected at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in August and September represent less than 0.25% of the total estimated travel to Zika-affected countries in 2015, the CDC analysis found. Estimated travel to the U.S. from Rio for the Games is 0.11% of all 2015 U.S. travel from countries where Zika is now spreading, the CDC said.

“The relative contribution of the Olympics is really quite small,” said Martin Cetron, director of the CDC’s division of global migration and quarantine, who led the analysis.

In addition, Dr. Cetron said, mosquito-borne transmission of Zika is predicted to be low during the Games because they will take place during the cooler winter season in Rio, when mosquito populations are lower than in warmer months.

Source: MarketWatch