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Simply days forward of the Olympic Video games the waterways of Rio de Janeiro are as filthy as ever, contaminated with uncooked human sewage teeming with harmful viruses and micro organism, in line with a 16-month-long examine commissioned by The Related Press.
Not solely are some 1,400 athletes vulnerable to getting violently sick in water competitions, however the AP’s exams point out that vacationers additionally face probably severe well being dangers on the golden seashores of Ipanema and Copacabana.
The AP’s survey of the aquatic Olympic and Paralympic venues has revealed constant and dangerously excessive ranges of viruses from the air pollution, a significant black eye on Rio’s Olympic venture that has set off alarm bells amongst sailors, rowers and open-water swimmers.
The primary outcomes of the examine revealed over a yr in the past confirmed viral ranges at as much as 1.7 million occasions what can be thought-about worrisome in america or Europe. At these concentrations, swimmers and athletes who ingest simply three teaspoons of water are virtually sure to be contaminated with viruses that may trigger abdomen and respiratory sicknesses and extra not often coronary heart and mind irritation – though whether or not they truly fall sick is determined by a sequence of things together with the power of the person’s immune system.
For the reason that AP launched the preliminary outcomes final July, athletes have been taking elaborate precautions to stop sicknesses that might probably knock them out of the competitors, together with preventatively taking antibiotics, bleaching oars and donning plastic fits and gloves in a bid to restrict contact with the water. (AP)