Thousands of troops deployed to battle Zika virus

SAO PAULO — More than 200,000 army, navy and air force troops fanned out across Brazil on Saturday to teach people how to eliminate the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads the Zika virus many health officials believe is linked to severe birth defects.

The nationwide offensive is part of President Dilma Rousseff’s declared war on the virus that has quickly spread across the Americas.

According to Brazil’s govern- ment, about 220,000 members of the armed forces accompanied by community health agents and mosquito control teams were deployed Saturday to help educate the population on how to eliminate mosquito breeding areas in and around their homes. The teams were expected to visit 3 million homes in 350 cities to distribute explanatory pamphlets.

Wearing a white T-shirt printed with the campaign’s “Zero Zika” slogan, Rousseff visited Rio de Janeiro’s working-class neighborhood of Zeppelin. She was accompanied by Mayor Eduardo Paes and Rio de Janeiro state governor Luiz Fernando Pezao.

The president visited homes and chatted with residents about the importance of eliminating the breeding areas for the mosquito that also transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Rousseff said in brief comments to reporters that the Zika outbreak will not stop this year’s Olympic Games from being held in Rio de Janeiro as scheduled, starting Aug. 5.

To attract the attention of commuters at Rio’s main train station, an army band played Michael Jackson’s music while soldiers distributed flyers with information on eliminating mosquito breeding places.

“We must all understand that combatting the mosquito is a priority,” said Brazilian Army spokesman Col. Gerson Freitas.

The O Globo newspaper reported Saturday that troops participating in the Rio de Janeiro campaign avoided slums dominated by drugtrafficking gangs.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito lives largely inside homes and can lay eggs in even a bottlecap’s worth of stagnant water. The dishes beneath potted plants are a favorite spot, as are abandoned tires, bird feeders and even the little puddles of rainwater that collect in the folds of plastic tarps.

The Zika virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 and subsequently spread to parts of Asia. Brazil recorded its first case in mid-2015.