"Keep your mouth closed." This is the Brazil Health Experts' advice for the Olympic marathon swimmers, sailors and windsurfers competing in Rio de Janeiro next month.
Despite the government's promises to stem the waste that fouls Rio's expansive Guanabara Bay and the city's fabled ocean beaches, officials admitted that the efforts to treat the raw sewage and scoop up household garbage have fallen far short.
As a matter of fact, environmentalists and scientists say Rio's waters are much more contaminated that previously thought.
Recent tests by government and independent scientists revealed that pathogens in many of the city's waters can cause diarrhea and vomiting to drug-resistant "superbacteria" than can be fatal to people with weak immune systems.
Researchers at the Federal University of Rio also found serious contaminations at the upscale beaches of Ipanema and Leblon, where many of the half-million Olympic spectators are expected to come between sporting events.
Foreign athletes preparing for the Games have long expressed concern about the matter and that the waterborne illness could affect their Olympic dream.
Some athletes from the Games and other competitions have been felled by gastrointestinal illness, including members of the Spanish and Austrian sailing team. According to the organizers, during the surfing competition here last year, about a quarter of the participants were sidelined by nausea and diarrhea.
Last month, the acting governor of Rio de Janeiro, Francisco Dornelles, declared a state of emergency, claiming that a lack of money threatened "a total collapse in public security, health, education, transport and environmental management."
Still, Olympic organizers say the sports venues are nearly complete, and the federal government has provided emergency funs to the state. Many athletes expect the Games to proceed without serious complications.
Source: The New York Times
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