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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
GOVERNMENT has insisted that members of Team Zimbabwe to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are safe from the threat of the Zika virus that has afflicted the vast South American country.
The deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Aldrin Musiiwa yesterday said they have put in place measures to ensure Team Zimbabwe will be safe from the Zika virus.
Musiiwa made the assurance ahead of the announcement of the Team Zimbabwe contingent by the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee today.
The deputy Minister was speaking at a joint media briefing together with the Minister of Sport and Recreation, Makhosini Hlongwane and ZOC.
Zimbabwe will be sending a delegation of 57 people — 31 athletes and 26 officials for the Games which run from August 5 to 21.
A number of athletes including top golfer Rory Mcllroy have pulled out of the Games because of the Zika virus fear.
However, Musiiwa said they believe the measures they have put in place together with the efforts by Brazil will help protect the athletes from contracting the mosquito-borne disease.
“The distribution of the aides mosquito particularly in Brazil where the Games are taking place is low now because being winter the amount of mosquitoes there is much less.
“And in Brazil they have taken measures now to spray for mosquitoes which is the vector and we want our athletes to cover themselves, wear protective clothing that normally cover themselves. They also must use mosquito repellents while they are in Brazil to stop the mosquitoes from biting them.
“We want them to drink certified safe water as the water situation there is not particularly specified so we want them to drink safe water,” said Musiiwa.
Musiiwa said besides concerns over Zika the athletes have to go through the routine vaccinations for diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and polio, measles and mumps.
He also urged the athletes to take vaccine for influenza and hepatitis A, which he said is also prevalent in Brazil.
Musiiwa said pregnant women are not advised to travel to Brazil or areas that have got the virus before adding that they will put in place a surveillance program to monitor the team when they return.
“For the females that have travelled to Brazil they must avoid pregnancy for eight weeks after returning from Brazil and for the men to use protection for 21 days after they return from that country.
“When the athletes return from Brazil as Ministry of Health we will organise surveillance for a period of 21 days for all the members that have travelled. What we would be checking is if they would have developed a fever, a skin rash, muscle or joint pain. If this happens the Ministry of Health is at their disposal, we are able to isolate the Zika virus in their blood and advise accordingly.
“And we would also want to advise that all who would have travelled to Rio and have no symptoms must use condoms for eight weeks to protect their sexual partners because it can also be sexually transmitted. So men who have got Zika symptoms or are diagnosed of Zika virus should use condoms for six months. If the men’s partner is pregnant the couple should either use condoms or should not have sex during pregnancy.
“And women who have travelled to Rio but do not have symptoms should wait eight weeks after travel before trying to get pregnant. That is basically what we have,” said Musiiwa.
Chief medical officer for Team Zimbabwe, Austin Jeans said they would follow the World Health Organisation guidelines, which have been adopted by the International Olympic Committee for the Games and they have come up with a bulletin containing information on the virus.
“What we have been working on in the last couple of weeks as Team Zimbabwe has been finalising and preparing, is we have devised a bulletin on Zika prevention for the team when we travel to Rio, which involves all the aspects that have been outlined.
“Most notably we are making sure the team is aware of the Zika situation and its relevance to them personally as individuals and as athletes and also from a public health perspective that we have as Zimbabweans returning to Zimbabwe,” said Jeans.
The team has already received the initial bulletin and will receive an updated bulletin this week.
Jeans noted that according to a recent assessment by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statement released on 13 July, 2016 only four countries — Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea and Yemen are at risk of importing Zika. The team will also get an anti-Zika pack containing products such as mosquito repellents for use during their stay in Brazil.
ZOC president, Admire Masenda said information on the Zika virus has been disseminated to the athletes through their managers.
“In regards to the athletes themselves we have a pool of managers we actually administer through management and we have been pushing the managers themselves to pass on the information and we are confident the information has been passed on. And if it hasn’t we are still going to step up and ensure that as we get closer to departure time that information is passed on,” said. Masenda
ZOC are expected to announce the team this evening at a fundraising dinner, at Rainbow Towers.
Jeans said they are going to have an anti-doping education program after the final team is announced.
“Once we have a finalised team which is going to have an anti-doping education program in place that will be implemented prior to departure it’s an online program, which we will be putting all our athletes through. So we have a record that they have been exposed to anti-doping education,” said Jeans.
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