The 2016 Summer Olympics & the Threat of the Zika Virus

The threat of the Zika virus is absolutely real in Brazil and it has reached in Rio de Janeiro. There it is flourishing beyond expectation. In last January, the declaration of Rio as a "safe environment" by the International Olympic Committee was a plain speculation based upon a declaration by the Brazil's Ministry of Health that described "Zika as a notifiable disease". The declaration was not supported by any actual data, because then the counting of cases was not started. However, when the data became available, it showed Rio de Janeiro's suspected Zika cases (about 26,000) are one of the highest (fourth, with 157 cases per 100,000) of any state in Brazil. After years of money being dumped into the games, IOC felt it is not possible to delay or move the Rio Games because of Zika. With an estimated 500,000 foreign tourists who will flock into Rio for the Games, there are enough chances that Brazil's Zika will spread globally. The decision to continue Summer Olympics in Rio is purely a financial decision, not a logical one.

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