Zika Virus and Sports

[jerrym]

The Zika virus is starting to have a major impact on sports, starting with the Olympics. Spread by the Aedes mosquito, it often results in mild or no symptoms, but "may spread from a pregnant women to the baby. This may result in microcephaly and other severe brain problems.^[9][10] Zika infections in adults can result in Guillain-Barré syndrome." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zika_virus) and is now considered a pandemic (widespread on several continents). Although 80% of those struck by this disease suffer only no or mild symptoms and may not even know they have it, the disease can be spread to others through sex and blood transfusions, thereby increasing its global spread. People in Canada and the United States have already caught the disease in this manner from those who have traveled to Latin America and the Caribbean and passed it on to offspring.
As a result many athletes are becoming concerned about going to sports events in the Caribbean and Latin America. So far 388 cases have occurred in the US, all related travel to other countries, including 33 pregnancies. (http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/united-states.html)
There was also concern expressed by an expert in the disease on PBS that the carrying virus, Aedes, can survive in the southern US.

Well before the Zika epidemic began in Brazil last year, Olympics organizers knew they would face a challenge in keeping the approximately 16,000 athletes and 600,000 visitors to Rio de Janiero healthy. ...
Freed from their natural environs, we know that up to half of all travelers engage in casual sex, which can also transmit Zika if they don't use condoms. Travelers can also spread Zika to sexual partners back home, or to native mosquitoes who will transmit it locally. While Brazil will be enjoying its mild winter this August, many travelers to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics will return to Northern Hemisphere countries such as the United States precisely when mosquito populations are peaking.
Brazil is launching a herculean effort to fumigate Rio for mosquitoes, and most of the Olympics events will be held in that one city, but it has a native population of 12.9 million sharing a varied geography that includes rain forest and beaches. The hardy Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry Zika can reproduce even within a dab of water lying in an overturned bottle cap.
Brazilian leaders have shown a willingness to get as creative as the mosquitoes, having been among the first regions to deploy genetically modified mosquitoes and exploring other mosquito control options as well.
Should the Olympics be canceled or postponed?


Prominent voices have called on Brazil and the International Olympic Committee to call off this year's games. New York University bioethicist Art Caplan said Brazil is being irresponsible with public health. The country shouldn't be "trying to run an Olympics and battle an epidemic at the same time."
The U.S. Olympic committee apparently told athletes who are concerned about their own health to skip the games if they want to, and soccer star Hope Solo has gone on record saying she won't go unless the situation changes. We're also seeing other sporting events, like the PGA's Latin American tour, postpone upcoming dates.
But so far Rio stands defiant against the naysayers and the mosquitoes. The games' spokesman told Conde Nast Traveler last week that cancellation "has never been mentioned. No way." ...
Some experts in public health and infectious disease are supporting Brazil's decision. Dr. Mary Wilson of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, currently working with University of California, San Francisco, said the fact that the games are held in one city, and during the colder months, means officials should be able to reduce the risk of Zika to an acceptable level.
Dr. Daniel Lucey of Georgetown's O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law similarly said that Brazil is up to the task, and that "the world has an opportunity to respond better, stronger, faster to this epidemic" than officials did with Ebola. Eskild Petersen, editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, said "Controlling Zika at present is a problem of mosquito control and once the authorities get that working, the risk will be reduced."
On the other hand, Dr. Kamran Khan, an infectious disease physician and scientist based at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, thinks some people attending the games will become infected with Zika and "inadvertently introduce the virus back to their home countries" because the Northern Hemisphere will be in summertime. "Even one chance event could cause local transmission" back home, he said. Khan's research specialty involves the risks associated with mass migrations and he is the founder of BlueDot, a privately held company that exploits big data to model and mitigate infectious disease outbreaks.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/12/health/zika-olympics-threat/

As of early 2016, a widespread outbreak of Zika was ongoing, primarily in the Americas. The outbreak began in April 2015 in Brazil, and has spread to other countries in South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. In January 2016, the WHO said the virus was likely to spread throughout most of the Americas by the end of the year;^[73] and in February 2016, the WHO declared the cluster of microcephaly and Guillain–Barré syndrome cases reported in Brazil – strongly suspected to be associated with the Zika outbreak – a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.^{[6][74][75][76]} It is estimated that 1.5 million people have been infected by Zika in Brazil,^[77] with over 3,500 cases of microcephaly reported between October 2015 and January 2016.^[78]
A number of countries have issued travel warnings, and the outbreak is expected to significantly impact the tourism industry.^[6][79] Several countries have taken the unusual step of advising their citizens to delay pregnancy until more is known about the virus and its impact on fetal development.^[17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zika_virus

[jerrym]

Another sport that is being impacted by the Zika virus is Major League Baseball because of the 2 game series scheduled in Puerto Rico in May. Some players are already saying they would prefer not to go to Puerto Rico because of Zika.

Players from the Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates have expressed concerns about their two-game series next month in Puerto Rico because of the Zika virus.


Officials with Major League Baseball, the Marlins and Pirates expect the games to be played as scheduled May 30-31, they said Thursday. But the teams, MLB and the players' union are continuing discussions about the series, and union head Tony Clark described the health and safety concerns as serious.
''We recognize the importance of the trip,'' Marlins pitcher Craig Breslow said. ''But at the same time, our health and the health of our families is paramount.'' ...

Since the virus lasts longer in semen than it does in blood, the CDC advises abstaining or using condoms if a man may have been infected while his partner is pregnant. It also can be difficult to determine whether someone has contracted Zika, because some infected people do not show any symptoms.
Breslow noted that CDC guidelines recommend that couples trying to get pregnant should wait six months if the man was diagnosed with Zika and was in an outbreak area.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league is in contact with the union about the issue. ...


MLB issued a statement expressing optimism the games in San Juan will be played as scheduled. Team officials, MLB, and the union share the same concerns regarding the issue, Marlins president David Samson said.
''We're all aligned on this to make sure that the safety of the players, the staff and the fans is always paramount,'' Samson said. ''I'm completely confident MLB and the MLBPA will work together with the CDC and any other required parties to ensure all of our safety.''
Samson and Brian Warecki, the Pirates' vice president of communications, said they expect the games to be played as scheduled.
''We are very confident that we are taking the overly cautious steps to ensure we have a very successful two game series in San Juan,'' Warecki said.
Pirates left-hander Tony Watson said the players would prefer not to go to Puerto Rico, ''but we don't have all the facts, either.
We're trying to walk a fine line here. It's an interesting situation that we're getting constant feedback from the CDC, doctors, experts, and it keeps blowing up bigger and bigger,'' he added. ''We're just trying to find the right thing to do for the players because health and safety is our No. 1 concern. It doesn't matter who it is, you bring one (case) back, or a couple months later something happens, it's just what we would not want to have happen at all.''

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/worried-zika-mlb-players-puerto-rico-games-171811786--mlb.html

[jerrym]

The state hid hardest by the Zika virus is Florida, which could raise concerns among those, including football, baseball, basketball and hockey athletes, travelling to and from this southernmost state in the future. The first case in the US of the disease being transferred by sexual contact to a woman without foreign travel has also occurred in Florida.

Florida health officials confirmed three new cases of Zika virus in Miami-Dade on Tuesday, raising the statewide total to 91 people infected by the disease since February — most in the nation — as President Barack Obama signed legislation fast tracking the regulatory process for developing a vaccine.
The bill signed by the president prioritizes review of Zika virus within the Food and Drug Administration., allowing officials to test a vaccine for Zika more quickly.
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health has said the agency hopes to have a possible vaccine ready for human trials in early fall.


Florida has reported Zika infections in five pregnant women, who are considered to be at greatest risk from the infectious disease because of a conclusive link between the virus and congenital microcephaly, a condition in which a newborn’s head is smaller than expected, which can lead to developmental issues.
The CDC recommends that women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant postpone travel to affected areas where Zika is locally transmitted, including much of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Nearly all of Florida’s cases were acquired by people traveling outside the country, except for one case of sexual transmission in Polk County.
Last week, U.S. officials recommended deferral of blood donors in U.S. areas where Zika is actively transmitted until blood donations can be screened. Puerto Rico is the first U.S. area to need to comply with the guidance from the FDA.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/heal...e72681622.html

[jerrym]

Golfer Vijay Singh is going to skip the Rio Olympics because of the Zika virus.

http://www.skysports.com/golf/news/1...-to-zika-virus

"I would like to play the Olympics, but the Zika virus, you know..." said former world No 1 Singh.
"I feel bad. I wanted to play and finally decided against it."

[jerrym]

British Olympians have warned against feeding the "fear factor" but admit the rapid spread of the Zika virus is "scary", "daunting" and "worrying".Brazilian authorities say there will be no risk to athletes and spectators, except pregnant women, when the Rio Games take place in August.
Modern pentathlete Samantha Murray, 26, said the virus was a concern. But she said she had been assured by British officials that "everything is being done to prepare the team". Murray won a silver medal at the 2012 Games in London and is hoping to be on the podium again in Rio. ...
The International Olympic Committee has said Rio will be safe and venues will be inspected daily before and during the Games to minimise the impact of the virus. ...
Badminton player Gail Emms, who won Olympic silver in the mixed doubles at the 2004 Games, said the virus would be playing on her mind if she was due to compete in Rio. "I'd be in a very uncomfortable situation," she said. "You would feel frustrated, angry, and really worried about your friends and family." "It's just devastating because this is something that's your dream and you want it to go perfectly. "As a mother, I can only hope the best solution can be found quickly. I see the pictures and reports and I cry."

British rower Kath Grainger, who is attempting to qualify for Rio, described the situation as "sad". "From a selfish point of view, this is the culmination of our careers where we try and make our mark on the world of sport," the 2012 gold medallist told BBC Sport. "Yet suddenly you have this flip side which is quite a serious health hazard and potential risk." The 40-year-old Scot added it was reassuring to know the British Olympic Association was seeking advice and taking precautions. "I think it is important to keep informed but not to raise the fear factor," she said. ...

European 10,000m champion Jo Pavey said her "heart goes out" to parents of children with microcephaly. She added that every athlete, official and spectator going to Rio would have to "think carefully" about the dangers posed to their health. The Briton, 42, also said she would think twice about taking her family to Rio should she gain selection. "I wouldn't want to put my family or children at risk," she told the BBC.
Double Olympic backstroke champion Kirsty Coventry says she still intends to travel to Rio as she chase more Olympic success. "My aims and goals are still set on going to Rio and competing," the 32-year-old Zimbabwean told BBC World.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/35473816

[jerrym]

The May 30, 31 MLB games scheduled for Puerto Rico have been cancelled due to the Zika virus threat.

Major League Baseball has moved a two-game series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins, originally scheduled to be played at Puerto Rico's Hiram Bithorn Stadium, amid growing concern over the virus.
Last week, the CDC noted 683 confirmed Zika infections in Puerto Rico. The latest findings also revealed that a 70-year-old man from Puerto Rico died in February after complications due to the virus, which marked the first death related to the infection in a U.S. territory.

http://www.si.com/more-sports/zika-v...ics-mlb-sports

[jerrym]

The Australian Olympic team is taking special precautions concerning the Zika virus.

Australian pharmaceutical company Starpharma Holdings Ltd said it is teaming up with world No2 condom maker Ansell Ltd to supply Zika virus-proof condoms to the Australian Olympic team ahead of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games.

'Professor' McEvoy not concerned by Zika virus fears at Rio Olympics




Read more

Starpharma said it is giving the Australian athletes Ansell “Dual Protect” condoms lubricated with Starpharma’s VivaGel product, which it recently said showed near-total antiviral protection against Zika and other viruses in laboratory studies.
“Given sexual transmission of Zika virus is of increasing importance, the potent activity of Starpharma’s VivaGel against Zika could prove very significant,” said Starpharma chief executive officer Jackie Fairley.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...s-at-rio-games

[jerrym]

150 scientists are now warning that the Rio Olympics should be moved because of the zika virus and the risk it brings of birth defects and neurological problems being spread around the world by the 500,000 athletes and fans attending the Olympic Games.

As many as 150 top scientists from around the world Friday called for the Rio Olympics to be moved or delayed because of the Zika outbreak.

"The Brazilian strain of Zika virus harms health in ways that science has not observed before," the scientists said in a letter to Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), BBC News reports. "An unnecessary risk is posed when 500,000 foreign tourists from all countries attend the Games, potentially acquire that strain, and return home to places where it can become endemic.

"Should that happen to poor, as-yet unaffected places … the suffering can be great," the letter said. "It is unethical to run the risk, just for Games that could proceed anyway, if postponed and/or moved."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said earlier this month that it saw no reason to delay or move the games because of the Zika virus, which has been linked to serious birth defects.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/sci.../27/id/731169/

[jerrym]

On BBC News Amir Attaran a Canadian scientist who co-wrote the letter, criticized the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) because it has failed to respond to the pika virus crisis because it is caught in a conflict of interest over a sporting event seen as too big to fail. The article below includes a url connecting to the open letter to WHO.

The letter cites concerns about further spread of the virus and developing information about it in calling for the Games to be delayed or moved. The letter writers questioned whether the WHO is rejecting alternatives of when and where the Games should be held because of a conflict of interest with the International Olympic Committee.
“Currently, many athletes, delegations, and journalists are struggling with the decision of whether to participate in the Rio 2016 Games,” the letter states. “We agree with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommendation that workers should “Consider delaying travel to areas with active Zika virus transmission”. If that advice were followed uniformly, no athlete would have to choose between risking disease and participating in a competition that many have trained for their whole lives.”
THE LETTER: Read the note sent the World Health Organization
The letter notes the concern for global health, citing the possibility of Olympics travelers acquiring the Zika virus in Rio and then returning home, especially to currently unaffected areas.
“It is unethical to run the risk, just for Games that could proceed anyway, if postponed and/or moved,” the letter states.
The letter writers include Amir Attaran, a University of Ottawa professor who specializes in public health and wrote earlier this month in Time that the Olympics should be moved or postponed. As of early Friday afternoon, the letter had 150 signatures from doctors, scientists and medical ethicists around the globe. ...
The letter asks the WHO to reconsider its advice on the Rio Olympics for several reasons, saying:
-- While individual risk is low, the risk to a population is “undeniably high”
-- Rio de Janeiro is highly affected by Zika
-- Rio’s health system has been weakened, including by city funding cuts against mosquito-borne disease
-- Because the Aedes aegypti mosquito had previously been eradicated from Rio that holding the Olympics in the presence of these mosquitos “is a choice and not a necessity”
-- The summer season in the northern hemisphere is also relevant to the course of the epidemic The letter cites a 2010 memorandum of understanding between the WHO and the IOC, which has not been released, as evidence of a conflict of interest and suggests a change in leadership at the WHO, which is led by director Dr. Margaret Chan, is necessary to restore credibility.
“WHO must revisit the question of Zika and postponing and/or moving the Games,” the letter concludes. “We recommend that WHO convene an independent group to advise it and the IOC in a transparent, evidence-based process in which science, public health, and the spirit of sport come first. Given the public health and ethical consequences, not doing so is irresponsible.”

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports...tion/85036174/

[jerrym]

A growing number of athletes are expressing concerns about going to the Rio Olympics because of the Zika virus. Chicago Bull Paul Gasol is one of them and he says there are other Spanish athletes who are concerned.

Chicago Bulls center Pau Gasol might forgo the Summer Olympics in Rio over concerns about the Zika virus.

Gasol, a two-time Olympic silver medalist on Spain’s men’s basketball team, broke down his issues with how Olympic and world health officials are handling the Zika crisis in an editorial in the Spanish newspaper El Pais and to reporters Monday at a sponsor event in Madrid.

“Are we taking the precautions that will guarantee the health and safety of fans, athletes and other professionals who will travel to Rio, or are we putting financial concerns above the health of millions of people around the world?” Gasol wrote. “These Olympic Games, the first to be held in South America, could be unforgettable. The risk is that this could be for all the wrong reasons.” ...
He told reporters he is “thinking about” skipping the Rio Games. Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, can cause birth defects and microcephaly, a disorder in which infants are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains. Adults can suffer from neurological problems that can prove fatal in some cases.
The World Health Organization declared Zika a global health emergency earlier this year, but the U.N. health agency announced on Saturday that there is "no public health justification" to postpone the Rio Olympics. The WHO’s announcement came after a group of 150 medical experts called for the Summer Games to be postponed.
“The WHO’s response has been to play down the dangers. It says that half a million people from all over the planet visiting Rio will have no consequences when they return home,” Gasol wrote. “International health and sporting organizations, as well as governments, are aware of the risks. If the Olympic Games go ahead as planned, it won’t be for lack of information about the situation. But then who’s worried about the athletes and fans headed for Rio?”
Gasol, 35, is the latest athlete to raise concerns over Zika. Others, including tennis star Serena Williams, have also expressed their concerns. Golfer Adam Scott is not competing.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/05/30/chicago-bulls-pau-gasol-zika-concern/85153482/

Gasol said other Spanish athletes were also debating whether to compete in Brazil.
”It wouldn’t surprise me to see some athletes deciding not to participate in the games to avoid putting their health and the health of their families at risk,” he said. “Some of these athletes are planning to have children in the near future and this could affect them. It could affect the health of their kids and their wives,” he added.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/tamerragrif...b9k#.lvBoRXp2B

[jerrym]

A number of tennis, women's soccer, and golf players are either expressing concerns about Zika virus at the Rio Olympics or not going.

Told of the letter written by 150 doctors and scientists to the World Health Organization (WHO) in regards to moving or postponing the Olympics due to the fear of spreading the Zika virus, Serena Williams said the event was still on her schedule.
“[That’s] something that's been on my mind,” the world No. 1 said Saturday of Zika. “I'm really just gonna have to go super protected maybe. I don't know.”
Williams was curt in her response after a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6(10) win over Kristina Mladenovic to reach the fourth round here. ...
American John Isner said he would skip the Games because of a scheduling conflict and for the fact that the tennis event does not award rankings points. Top 30 players Dominic Thiem, Bernard Tomic and Feliciano Lopez also won’t go. ...
Members of the U.S. women’s soccer team have expressed concern over attending the Games because of Zika, as has golfer Rory McIlroy.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...irus/85090386/

[jerrym]

In the article at the website below Cam Cole notes the growing number of professional athletes often with large incomes who are dropping out of the Rio Olympics over the Zila virus and contrasts with amateur athletes who are reluctant to abandon the stage on which they have the chance to achieve their moment of glory.
To emphasize that their are real risks involved he cites Canadian swimmer Annamay Pierce, former world record holder in the breast stroke who came down with dengue fever, another mosquito-borne viral disease, at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, ending her career and her chance to compete in the London Olympics. Dengue fever is also widespread in Brazil with 746,000 cases already this year (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32589268).
Pierce notes that "the people who are begging off are the ones for whom the Olympics are not the pinnacle of their life. ... The scary thing about Rio is that it can affect your life forever if you have a baby that has, you know, a problem". She knows from her own experience.
This hits home even more when you have a connection, however tenuous, with the person involved in this. My oldest son, a former provincial champion in his age group in the backstroke, has been in swim meets where Pierce competed. I'm glad he's no longer swimming and having to make a decision about whether to go to the Olympics or not.

http://www.intelligencer.ca/2016/05/...d-health-risks

[1argoholic]

Plus Rio is a garbage pit!!!