Back to the Olympics Newsfeed

How athletes in Rio are dealing with Zika threat

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Aline Silva has had the dengue fever twice, and she's not taking any chances with the Zika virus.

Silva is a Brazilian wrestler who hopes to win an Olympic medal in just over six months in Rio de Janeiro. At a test event on Sunday for the games— at a venue in Rio's new Olympic Park — she wasn't alone in being concerned.

Several non-Brazilian athletes talked about lathering on mosquito repellent, staying in their hotel rooms and away from the water and the beaches in order to avoid mosquitoes.

Brazil is an epicenter of the rapidly spreading Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease that Brazilian scientists say is linked to a rare birth defect.