CDC REPEATS RIO ZIKA WARNINGS
Travelers should use extreme caution
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, along with Marty Cetron, director of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, reiterated that travelers to the Olympic Games exercise caution about the Zika virus and recommended again that pregnant women avoid traveling to the Games in a media briefing Thursday.
They also stressed extreme caution for travelers to the Games who have pregnant partners at home and recommended that men and women with pregnant partners refrain from unprotected sexual contact for the duration of the pregnancy upon returning.
Most cases of the infection are mild, but the disease can cause catastrophic brain damage in fetuses, according to the CDC.
While making clear the CDC takes the risk of Zika seriously, Cetron said, “There are other health hazards that may be a bigger risk.” Cetron pointed out that travelers had a greater chance of being hurt in a car accident than they did contracting the Zika virus, especially in Brazil’s winter, when there are not as many mosquitoes.
Murthy gave updated figures on the virus in the USA, which now has 1,657 travelassociated cases of Zika. There are more than 6,400 cases of the virus in the USA and its territories.
The CDC advises people traveling in tropical climates to wear long pants, long sleeves and insect repellent when outside and to avoid standing water.