MIAMI - Those traveling to Brazil for the Olympics face a tiny risk of getting infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which can cause birth defects in pregnant women, US researchers said Monday. Furthermore, the upcoming Olympic Games will take place when it is winter in Rio and mosquito activity has subsided, researchers said. "This study provides data, which together with initial findings from Brazilian scientists, show that these concerns may be largely exaggerated." "The possibility that travelers returning from the Olympics may spread Zika has become a polemic issue that has led to athletes dropping out of the event, and without evidence, undue stigmatization of Brazil," said study co-author Albert Ko, chair of the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale. In May, an open letter addressed to the WHO and signed by 150 international doctors, scientists and researchers called for the August Games to be moved or delayed to help prevent the spread of Zika virus.

Source: Bangkok Post July 25, 2016 21:00 UTC