This Tuesday (23) data revealed that Rio de Janeiro's municipal health department did not treat a single patient for Zika virus for the duration of the Games.

The information was provided by the Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party).

In total 8,681 people sought medical help during the sporting event, 2,133 of them foreign tourists. The majority of cases were headaches, hypertension, colds and sickness.

"I want to remind people that there is a lower risk of catching zika in Rio than in Miami," declared Paes. Rio witnessed an epidemic at the beginning of the year. Between January and July, 174,000 cases of the virus were registered across the whole of Brazil.

The lack of reported cases during the Games could be linked to the fact that the illness is asymptomatic in around 80% of cases, according to specialists.

Besides, a drop in zika cases was predicted in August. The Aedes Aegypt mosquito, the main carrier of the virus, does not procreate with such high frequency at this time of year, when the climate is colder and drier.

In light of the spread of the virus earlier in the year, 150 scientists sent a letter to the World Health Organisation in May, asking for the Games to be relocated from Rio.

Translated by GILLIAN SOPHIE HARRIS

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