The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just released a new Olympics Zika risk assessment, and it’s filled with good news: The Summer Games, to be held in Brazil in August and September, are unlikely to spur additional spread of the virus. And of the 206 countries participating, only four face an increased risk of importing new Zika cases.
The key reasons officials aren’t worried about mass outbreaks stemming from the games in Rio: It’s the cooler winter season there, when mosquitoes aren’t out biting people — which is the main way the Zika virus spreads. And Olympic travelers represent only a small fraction (less then 0.25 percent) of people traveling into and out of Zika-infected countries.
So health experts have been saying the Olympics shouldn’t pose a unique risk of Zika contagion.
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