A serious threat hangs over the Rio Olympics if we are to believe Amir Attaran, Canadian professor of public health who speaks in a forum published in the Harvard Public Health Review.
To protect the millions of visitors and the 10,000 athletes from 200 countries expected for this sports high mass, the emeritus expert does not hesitate to consider postponing or moving the event. “The 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games must be postponed, moved or even both, as a precaution,” he says before developing an argument in favor of this measure.
An insecure environment
According to the public health specialist, Brazil and the State of Rio are in the eye of the storm with 26,000 suspected cases of contamination with the virus transmitted by the tiger mosquito. The state of Rio also has the highest incidence rate of the disease of any state in Brazil (157 per 100,000), points out Amir Attaran.
Rio does not present a safe environment and therefore able to accommodate athletes and the public. The risk of microcephaly suspected to be linked by a bite from the tiger mosquito Aedes carrying the Zika virus is one more reason to be worried about the holding of the Olympic Games in August.
The Canadian specialist draws up a pessimistic prognosis, fearing that 500,000 tourists who came especially for the Olympics will return to their country potentially infected by the virus.
In response to Amir Attaran’s concern, the Olympic Games Committee stated in The Guardian, not having a plan to shift or move the Olympics. He nevertheless tries to reassure by saying that he is working “on measures to deal with pools of stagnant water around Olympic venues, where mosquitoes breed, to minimize the risk that visitors come into contact with them”.
This questioning about the Olympics comes as the Zika virus continues to rage in South America but also in Overseas. A first death linked to the Zika virus was reported in Martinique last Friday. The 84-year-old patient had been hospitalized for ten days in intensive care for Guillain-Barré syndrome according to the Regional Health Agency.
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