Olympic Gold Medalist Will Compete in Rio Despite Carrying Zika Virus

A Jamaican Olympic gold medalist has announced that he is carrying the Zika virus, but will continue to train and hopes to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics this August in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Kemar Bailey-Cole says he is currently suffering from rashes and mild joint pain, the tell-tale symptoms of the viral disease, but continues to train and expects to perform in Rio. “I am a little worried but I am not letting that get in front of me. I am just praying that I get the strength to carry me through the rounds,” he said in an interview with Jamaican newspaper Gleaner.

“Recovering is not easy because as we speak, the rashes are still on my body. My eyes hurt, but the best thing is that I am not feeling any muscle pain at the moment,” he added. He noted, however, that the muscle pain was mild enough that he dismissed it as exercise soreness before getting a haircut, revealing a lump on his neck.

“It is very disappointing but as I said earlier, I was training with it and didn’t know, so I still got in some work but not how I wanted it… (I am) just going to trials with the mindset that I am healthy and ready,” he concluded.

Bailey-Cole is the first athlete known to be training to compete while carrying Zika. South America and the Caribbean are currently in the throes of a Zika epidemic that has affected tens of thousands, with its epicenter in Brazil. Bailey-Cole appears to have contracted Zika in Jamaica, however, which has documented numerous Zika cases. Jamaican doctors sounded the alarm in February, lamenting a lack of concern among the general population and releasing a dancehall reggae song to promote awareness.

Bailey-Cole has also suffered from Chikunyunga, a disease also transmitted through the aedes aegypti virus. In addition to Zika and Chikunyunga, the mosquito can carry Dengue fever and yellow fever.

Most Zika patients – about 80 percent – do not experience any symptoms. Those who do experience mild joint pain, conjunctivitis, and rashes. While Zika causes mild symptoms in adults, it can have devastating consequences when present in the bloodstream of a pregnant woman. Zika has been known to cause a number of birth defects in newborns, most commonly microcephaly, a condition in which infants are born with brains too large for their skulls, crushing vital parts of the brain.

Concern about the Zika epidemic in Brazil has kept a number of athletes away from the Olympics, including golfer Rory McIlroy and cyclist Tejay van Garderen. Other athletes, like tennis star Roger Federer and basketball’s Pau Gasol have vowed to attend the Olympics regardless of the threat.

The International Olympic Commission (IOC) has insisted that Zika will not pose a threat to athletes or tourists and severely reprimanded athletes who have refused to attend, particularly golfers, as the number of golf stars backing out is disproportionately high. “I think it is appalling,” Barry Maister, an IOC member, told a New Zealand radio station. “I don’t like it and I don’t think the sport [golf] should be allowed to continue in the Games under that scenario… The Olympics is about the best, and they pledged the best,” he argued.

Medical experts have called on the IOC and World Health Organization (WHO) to postpone or relocate the Olympics, citing the fear of a global epidemic, with the virus carried around the world by travelers coming to watch the games. A letter signed by over 150 public health experts warns that “an unnecessary risk is posed when 500,000 foreign tourists from all countries attend the Games, potentially acquire that strain, and return home to places where it can become endemic.”

Both the IOC and WHO have denied the games pose a major global health risk, noting that August is a winter month in Brazil, when the native mosquito population reaches its low.

Brazil has struggled nonetheless to attract spectators to buy tickets. This month, to attract more tourists, the government of Brazil waived visa requirements for Americans, Canadians, Australians, and Japanese nationals to visit during the Olympic fortnight.

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