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U. Study: Olympic athletes in Rio dodged Zika, but not West Nile and other mosquito-borne illnesses

Related Topics: Zika fever, sportsperson

There were no confirmed Zika infections among athletes or visitors in Brazil during the 2016 Summer Olympics, but a new University of Utah Health study has found that many U.S. athletes and staff came down with other serious mosquito-borne illnesses on their trip.

Some 457 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes and staff — out of an estimated 2,000 American athletes and staff who attended — provided blood samples to U. researchers after returning from the South American nation.

Thirty-two of them had contracted mosquito-borne viruses. Some 27 had West Nile virus, three picked up chikungunya and two contracted dengue fever, the study found.