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U.S. Goalkeeper: I Wouldn’t Go’ to Olympics To |
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Albert
Admin Joined: April 24 2006 Status: Offline Points: 47746 |
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Posted: February 10 2016 at 8:48am |
U.S. Goalkeeper Hope Solo: ‘I Wouldn’t Go’ to Olympics Today Due to Zika PandemicU.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo said the Zika outbreak in Brazil could keep her out of the Summer Olympics in August.“If I had to make the choice today, I wouldn’t go,” she declared to Sports Illustrated. Stadiums in Manaus, Salvador, Brasília, Belo Horizonte, and Sáo Paulo will host the Olympic soccer games instead of those in Rio de Janeiro. They hosted games during the 2014 World Cup. But those areas “have higher rates than Rio of mosquito-borne viruses like Zika, dengue, chikungunya and malaria.” The Brazilian government has advised women to delay pregnancy for up to two years due to the possible connection to microcephaly, a rare birth defect that occurs when the brain does not form properly during pregnancy. “I would never take the risk of having an unhealthy child,” she said. “I don’t know when that day will come for Jerramy [Stevens, husband] and me, but I personally reserve my right to have a healthy baby. No athlete competing in Rio should be faced with this dilemma. Female professional athletes already face many different considerations and have to make choices that male professional athletes don’t.” She added:
Two sources told Reuters that the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) recommended any athlete or trainer concerned about the Zika outbreak should consider not attending the Olympics. Despite the name, the Summer Olympics will take place during winter in Brazil, so officials hope the cooler weather will kill the Aedes aegypti mosquito known to spread Zika and diminish the threat. Spring formally begins in September. The Australian Olympic Committee encouraged its female athletes to educate themselves about Zika and “consider the risks of competing in the Rio Olympics due to the outbreak of Zika.” “Any team members who are pregnant at the time of the Games need to consider the risks very carefully before deciding whether to proceed with travel to Brazil,” they said. Brazil promised to fumigate and sterilize Olympic stadiums leading up to the games. The health workers plan to follow the same procedures every day during the Olympics. Dr. Art Caplan of the NYU Langone Medical Center told Breitbart News Daily the Olympic committee should delay the games for at least six months. “You’ve got this outbreak going on, and you’re going to expose hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, who go down there to attend the Olympics or participate in them,” he stated. “We don’t have a cure, we don’t have a vaccine, there is now a couple of cases that have been reported about transmission of the virus into the blood supply, we don’t have a good test for that… why would we be trying to run an Olympics in a country that is straining, anyway?” http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/02/09/zika-might-keep-hope-solo-out-of-the-olympics/ |
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Albert
Admin Joined: April 24 2006 Status: Offline Points: 47746 |
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Only a matter of time now before the WHO starts hyping no chance of infection or spreading the virus from Olympics. Or in their words it will be, "The risk is low".
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arirish
Admin Group Joined: June 19 2013 Location: Arkansas Status: Offline Points: 39215 |
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It appears that some of our athletes are smarter than our politicians and the leadership at WHO!
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Buy more ammo!
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Albert
Admin Joined: April 24 2006 Status: Offline Points: 47746 |
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I'm sure a lot of athletes male and female have plans to start a family soon after the Olympics. It seems hardly worth participating in the games if that is in your near future. The Olympics are going to crumble.
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Satori
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another area of concern
A 2016 Rio Olympics venue is full of human waste and teeming with viruses — here's what it looks likehttp://www.businessinsider.com/rio-olympics-water-pollution-photos-2015-7the government promised to have this all cleaned up for the Olympics they have FAILED MISERABLY |
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arirish
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Life | Tue Feb 9, 2016 6:12am EST
Related: Sports, Health Exclusive: U.S. athletes should consider skipping Rio if fear Zika - officials NEW YORK | By Daniel Bases and Joshua Schneyer The United States Olympic Committee told U.S. sports federations that athletes and staff concerned for their health over the Zika virus should consider not going to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August. The message was delivered in a conference call involving USOC officials and leaders of U.S. sport federations in late January, according to two people who participated in the call. 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. The United States Olympic Committee told U.S. sports federations that athletes and staff concerned for their health over the Zika virus should consider not going to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August. The message was delivered in a conference call involving USOC officials and leaders of U.S. sport federations in late January, according to two people who participated in the call. 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. The USOC’s briefing to sport federations is the latest sign that Olympics officials are taking the Zika threat to the games in Rio de Janeiro seriously, and acknowledging that at least some athletes and support staff could face a tough decision over whether to attend. The United States won most medals at the last Olympics in London in 2012, so any disruption to its presence would be important for the Rio games. Global health authorities suspect the mosquito-borne Zika virus has caused a spike in Brazil of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by an abnormally small head. As a result, the World Health Organization declared an international health emergency Feb. 1, and the U.S. 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 USOC’s Alan Ashley, its chief of sport performance, and other USOC officials, briefed the leaders of the federations. Ashley did not respond to email or phone calls requesting comment. USOC spokesman Mark Jones confirmed by email that Ashley had "briefed federation leaders on the CDC's recommendations and we will continue to ensure that athletes and officials affiliated with Team USA receive any updates from the CDC." The USOC has not issued its own set of recommendations for athletes and staff beyond what the CDC and WHO have issued. Jones declined to comment further or respond to specific questions from Reuters before publication. In a statement on Monday, another USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said media reports that the USOC has advised U.S. athletes to reconsider competing in Rio due to the Zika virus were inaccurate. It was unclear what media reports he was referring to and he couldn't be immediately reached for comment. "Team USA looks forward to the Games and we did not, would not and will not prevent athletes from competing for their country should they qualify," Sandusky said. EXPRESSED OPTIMISM Recalling the conference call, Anthony, a former Olympian, said: "One of the things that they immediately said was, especially for women that may be pregnant or even thinking of getting pregnant, that whether you are scheduled to go to Rio or no, that you shouldn't go." "And no one should go if they feel at all as though that that threat could impact them," said Anthony, who praised the USOC's handling of the outbreak so far. Zika outbreaks have been reported in 33 countries, most of them in the Americas. Symptoms of infection often are mild or imperceptible. But the outbreak in Brazil that began last year has been accompanied by more than 4,000 cases of suspected microcephaly; investigators have confirmed more than 400. The link to Zika is unproven but strongly suspected. In El Salvador, which is experiencing outbreaks of the virus, women are being advised to put off pregnancy until 2018. Will Connell, Director of Sport at the U.S. Equestrian Federation, said the USOC was leaving the decision up to individual athletes and staff members. "They said no one who has reasons to be concerned should feel obliged to go,” Connell said. "If an athlete feels that way, of course they may decide not to go." During the call, the USOC did not indicate they were concerned that large numbers of athletes would avoid Rio or that Zika could derail the Games, the two federation leaders said. Instead, officials expressed optimism that risk would be minimized by close cooperation among health agencies, mosquito control efforts and the Games’ timing during Brazil’s winter when mosquito-borne illnesses are less common. The USOC officials on the call said the organization would adhere to the recommendations of health agencies including the CDC, the sport federation leaders said. "As we get closer to the Olympics the guidance could get updated," Connell said. In a Jan. 29 letter from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to national committees, the IOC’s chief doctors said they were monitoring the situation closely. They passed along mosquito avoidance advice, but remained confident the games would go ahead as planned. The Australian and New Zealand Olympic Committees said they had already warned their athletes of the potential dangers for pregnant women. "If any athletes on the team felt they didn't want to go, we would absolutely support them on that," an NZOC spokeswoman said on Tuesday. An Australian Olympic Committee spokeswoman said they would "totally understand" if an athlete chose not to go to Brazil. "But at this point no athletes have indicated they intend to withdraw from the team," she added. Both Connell and U.S. Fencing’s Anthony said the USOC’s message was focused primarily on the potential risks for women who are pregnant or are thinking about trying to become pregnant. Since the call, the CDC has issued more guidance in light of increasing suspicion that Zika can be transmitted sexually. The CDC said Friday that men who reside in or have traveled to Zika-affected areas may want to abstain from sexual activity or use condoms. The Olympics have long promised to be a triumphant showcase for Latin America, which is playing host to the global sports spectacle for the first time. Rio has also been expecting more than 380,000 tourists for the Games, which come as Brazil’s economy is mired in recession and its government reels from a corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras. An ongoing Zika epidemic could prompt some athletes, staff, sponsors and high-spending tourists to steer clear of the Games. Even if the risk of infection to any given visitor is very low – as health experts expect – uncertainties persist. There is no Zika vaccine, and currently available blood tests cannot always detect the virus. Olympics officials "are taking the right approach from a standpoint of, let's be cautious, do not do anything that is going to put anybody, our staff or our athletes in danger," Anthony said. Anthony said no U.S. fencers had spoken to him about Zika. "I think our athletes are aware," he said. "But it has not become a mission critical issue yet. Not yet." http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-usa-olympics-exlusive-idUSKCN0VH0BJ |
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Buy more ammo!
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Albert
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Rio Olympics 2016: Come For The Sewage, Stay For The Zika PandemicBrazil is deploying 220,000 troops in February to: A. Put down protests over the nation’s Olympic spending. If you guessed D, then not only are you a winner, but you’ve probably already made plans to skip the Summer Games this August and visit Carlsbad Caverns. The Brazilian government is breaking out the troops to combat the Zika virus, and soldiers will be going door-to-door to distribute educational pamphlets and warn residents. Zika has taken hold in Brazil and many other sub-tropical locations in South America. The virus is believed to have arrived in the hemisphere in 2014, spread by mosquitoes, and has been linked to a brain defect in nearly 4,000 newborns. Reuters:
Yes, not only is there no vaccine, but authorities don’t think that one can be developed for over a year. So far this hasn’t impacted people’s plans to come to the Olympics, say Brazilian travel experts (via Reuters). We suppose that once you’ve decided to brave the crime, pollution, protesters and construction delays, the chance of contracting a new virus isn’t going to make much difference. But the fact that the virus is new should be of concern to the Olympics Committee. The more people who learn about it in the coming six months, the more who will be changing their plans. “Hello, Travelocity? Do you have a package that doesn’t include the possibility of an infant brain virus?” Rio officials are trying to combat the problem by getting the word out on preventive measures, and cleaning up the puddles and other areas where the mosquitoes thrive. However …
Thousands are expected to flood into Rio for the Carnival beginning on Feb. 5, so at least we’ll get a preview of coming attractions. http://www.sportsgrid.com/olympic-sports/rio-olympics-2016-come-for-the-sewage-stay-for-the-zika-pandemic/ |
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Albert
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Another thing to point out in terms of the Olympics in August, which is the "winter months", is that all that means is that it's drier. Also keep in mind this thing originally exploded in mid 2015, and during the winter months. They might want to keep looking into the sexual transmission. They're doing a lot of studies right now, but nothing about transmission cases.
During the Brazilian winter (June to September) the weather in Rio and the surrounding area is similar to the summertime in Northern Europe. The rainforest areas, Pantanal and the Amazon are warm and humid all year round. Tropical north eastern Brazil has two seasons, but you’ll hardly notice any difference between the two. The average temperature is 23° to 27° C all year round. |
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If our U.S. athletes and other Athletes from other countries saw the article on the filthy water they will have to swim in and then Zika I can't believe they will go to Brazil! Can athletes be so stupid to put the rest of their lives at risk.
I bet you are all too young to remember that Katherine Hepburn fell into the canal in Venice while filming a movie Summertime. There was so much human and animal feces in the canals in 1955 she got an eye infection so bad that her eyes watered for the rest of her life. Look at her movies after 1955 and you can see her watery eyes. Learn from the past and stay away from Brazil! |
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