World number two Dustin Johnson has become the latest golfer to withdraw from next month's Rio Olympics due to fears over the Zika virus.
Brazil's Sports Minister Leonardo Picciani expects there to be almost no cases of the Zika virus during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, adding that the country is prepared for the Games, despite health concerns and political instability. The World Health Organization's Emergency Committee on Zika will meet in the coming weeks to evaluate the risks associated with the event. More than 150 health experts, in a public letter, have also called for the August Games to be postponed. U.S. health officials have concluded that infections by the mosquito-borne Zika virus in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies. However, Picciani, who was appointed by interim President Michel Temer, said the situation had significantly improved. "We hosted 43 test events in Rio with 7,000 athletes and we have not had any case of Zika or dengue," he told
Pregnant women should avoid traveling to countries at risk of mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission, which is strongly suspected of causing microcephaly, said Indian Medical Association.
Zika virus outbreak in Brazil does not pose enough of a threat to warrant cancelling or putting off the Olympic Games set to be held in Rio de Janeiro in August, a leading US health official said.
Tata Motors is seeking an image makeover with the curvaceous hatchback, Zica.
The Zika virus outbreak in Brazil has led Britain's Greg Rutherford to have his sperm frozen before heading out to defend his long jump title at the Rio Olympics.
The United States Olympic Committee told US sports federations that athletes and staff concerned for their health over the Zika virus should consider not going to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August.
Eradicating the Aedes aegypti or developing a vaccine will take years. Genetic modification offers a way out; the question is how to scale it up across continents, says Devangshu Datta.
The local organizing committee for the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro said on Tuesday not a single case of Zika infection has been reported among 17,000 athletes, volunteers and staff during test events in the run-up to the games. As concern over the outbreak grows among the 500,000 visitors expected for the Olympics, the committee's chief medical officer said cooler temperatures, which are less propitious for mosquitos, had already led to a decrease in the number of Zika infections in recent months. U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies.
Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard is undecided about her participation in next month's Rio Olympics over concerns about the Zika virus, the 22-year-old said.
Bharat Biotech started work on developing a vaccine against Zika way back in 2014.
World number two Andy Murray is planning to participate in the forthcoming Rio Olympics in order to defend his Olympic gold medal despite growing concerns over the rapid spread of Zika virus in Brazil. Earlier, in an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 150 health experts had said that the current plans for the prestigious event need to be revised while citing several scientific studies that revealed the adverse effects of the virus. The WHO, however, turned down calls to move the Olympics venue, saying that moving the games would "not significantly alter" the spread of the virus. Murray, however, would head into the tournament after taking appropriate guidance from the Foreign Office and the British Olympic Association about the danger that the virus poses, the Guardian reported.
British slalom canoeist Fiona Pennie is leaving nothing to chance at this year's Rio Olympics where she will fit a mosquito net to her boat between races to minimise the threat of the Zika virus.
Renowned US football player Hope Solo said Thursday she was unlikely to join her teammates for the Rio Olympic Games without more information about Zika as she hoped to have children and was concerned about the virus' health effects.
Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal, who will play this week in the Rio Open, downplayed public concerns over risks linked to the Zika virus in the Brazilian city that will host the Olympics in August, saying "people are living completely normal lives."
The International Olympic Committee will issue guidelines this week aimed at protecting athletes and visitors from Zika, a mosquito-borne virus spreading rapidly across South America months before the Rio de Janeiro Games in August.
After winning accolades for its 'Kerala model' of combating the contagion about a year ago, the state is now seeing daily fresh cases between 12,000 to 15,000 with no end in sight to the 'prolonged surge', as some experts put it.
There is a 'very low risk' of further international spread of Zika virus as result of the Olympic Games to be held in Brazil, the heart of the current outbreak linked to birth defects, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said on Tuesday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) may reconsider golf's place on the programme due to the growing number of big-name withdrawals from the Rio Games, former Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has said.
US women's soccer star Hope Solo has been mocked for voicing public concerns over the Zika virus -- crowds chant "Zika! Zika" when she touches the ball during Rio Olympics.
When it comes to golfers and their interest in competing at this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a curious gender divide is emerging which, at first glance, is counter-intuitive.
Novak Djokovic urged people to think about Brazilians who are having to live with the Zika outbreak on a daily basis rather than worrying about how the situation might affect those travelling to the country for the Rio Olympics in August.
Bharat Biotech is also looking at nasal vaccine as a booster dose as its scaling up capacity is very easy when compared with Covaxin, he added.
Tennis star Serena Williams says she is concerned about the Zika outbreak ahead of August's Rio Olympics, but has faith in the support team dealing with worries about the mosquito-carried virus.
Signalling pathways are complicated chain reactions which control many important human biological processes and in which certain proteins act as messenger molecules that promote or block the signals of other proteins.
A woman is suspected to have died of Guillain-Barr syndrome (GBS) in Maharashtra on Wednesday, while 16 new cases of the rare nerve disorder were reported in the state, health officials said.
Serena Williams is intent on defending her Olympic titles in Rio and finds it sad that several athletes will miss out on an 'amazing' experience because of worries about the Zika virus.
World number nine tennis player Tomas Berdych has said he is undecided whether to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics because of health fears over the Zika virus.
Olympic gold medallist Lindsey Vonn has been spotted wearing eye-catching attire, and attending award functions.
Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton, athletics' best-known couple, are not letting widespread concerns about the Zika virus stand in the way of a bid for unprecedented double gold medals at the Rio Olympics.
Rory McIlroy took a long time to decide he would represent Ireland at the 2016 Rio Olympics but the 27-year-old world number three could now miss golf's return to the Games after a 112-year absence because of concerns over the Zika virus.
A man suspected to have contracted Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) has died in Maharashtra's Solapur district, while the number of cases of the immunological nerve disorder in Pune rose to 110, health officials said on Monday.
Rio can still pull off a dazzling Games, but organizers are scrambling to sell some 1.7 million tickets, or 28 percent of the scaled-back total made available for sale.
Rafael Nadal has conceded he is not yet sure that he will be able to represent Spain at the Rio Olympics as his fitness concerns linger.
The anti-doping laboratory that will test athletes during this year's Olympic Games will be fully WADA compliant by this month's deadline, Rio organising committee president Carlos Nuzman said on Thursday.
Attendance at the Singapore Grand Prix, one of the most popular races on the calendar fell this year, hurt by a slowdown in the local and global economy.
Rafa Nadal's injury situation is "delicate" ahead of the Rio Olympics, according to Spanish team mate David Ferrer. Nadal, a 14-time grand slam champion, has not played a competitive match since May 27 when a left wrist injury forced him to pull out of the French Open after the second round and miss Wimbledon. World number four Nadal won gold in Beijing eight years ago and will be Spain's flag bearer in Rio.
An Olympic gold medal was not the pinnacle of the sport for golfers according to world number four Rory McIlroy, and he had no concerns about his decision to withdraw from the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Halep said she would not recover from a calf injury in time, Wawrinka underwent foot surgery that would rule him out of the Games
Centre has sent an advisory to states on HFMD (Hand Foot and Mouth Disease), commonly known as Tomato Flu, stating that it's a self-limiting illness targeting mostly young children aged 1-10 years and immune-compromised adults and no specific drug exists to treat it.
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