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Spanish Health Ministry plays down Rio Olympics health risks

Xinhua, May 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

Fernando Carreras, assistant director of Health Affairs Abroad at the Spanish Health Ministry, on Monday insisted that the Zika virus posed very little threat to athletes and spectators considering visiting the Olympic Games in Rio this August.

Carreras spoke after Spanish basketball star Pau Gasol gave a press conference in which he said he was "considering not going to the Rio Olympic Games" as a result of the Zika virus.

Gasol also wrote article in the Spanish El Pais newspaper on Monday in which he expressed his concern that Europe in general had underestimated the dangers of the virus.

Carreras said Gasol had to take "a personal decision," adding the risk of transmission of the virus was "very low" and that Spaniards could travel "with total calm" to Brazil.

"There is nothing which suggests we should take additional measures to those which have been taken," he said, insisting "the level of security is very high and we hope that Spain's elite athletes do well in these Olympics."

Monday also saw 186 scientists write an open letter to the World Health Organization warning that Zika poses greater dangers than many believe.

"The strain of the Brazilian Zika virus damages health in a manner that science has not observed before. It is an unnecessary risk when one considers that 500,000 foreign tourists from all over the world will attend the Games," the letter read.

"The strain of the Zika virus has medical consequences which are more serious than firstly thought. Rio de Janeiro is one of the most affected parts of Brazil and the attempts to kill mosquitoes in Rio are not meeting expectations," it added. Enditem