Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The Azerbaijani Olympic delegation faced no problem related to the Zika virus during the stay in Rio de Janeiro.

Vice-President of the National Olympic Committee Chingiz Huseynzade announced about this at a press conference in Baku on September 6.

The NOC VP said that the Zika virus is a myth. “This issue was so inflated in the international arena, that all were afraid to go to Rio. All items were treated with special substances in a timely manner there. I have not seen any athlete infected with the virus. We even forgot about it,” he said.

First recorded in Brazil in 2015, the Zika virus has now been detected in more than 50 countries. Brazil remains the country most-affected by the mosquito-borne virus, which has been proven to cause severe birth defects.

Now the virus is spreading fast in the Caribbean, particularly in Puerto Rico, where there are more than 14,000 infections, including in nearly 1,000 pregnant women.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization announced that no Zika infections were reported in Brazil during the Olympics, either among athletes or visitors.

The 31st Summer Olympic Games in Rio went into the history of the Azerbaijani sport as one of the brightest Olympic pages. The country has sent a team of 56 athletes to the Rio games, where our heroes won 18 medals including one gold, seven silver and 10 bronze.

Azerbaijan is also among the top 15 countries for the total number of gained medals in the Games, which was attended by record 206 countries, alongside with the U.S., Britain, China, Russia, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Australia and Canada.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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