The move by WHO comes after an Associated Press investigation of Rio’s Olympic water venues turned up shockingly high levels of viruses and bacteria.
The waters were so contaminated that athletes face the risk of becoming violently ill and unable to compete, said the AP report, according to Digital Journal on July 28.
The World Health Organization, in a statement to the Associated Press, said it suggested the IOC start monitoring for viruses at Rio’s Olympic water venues.
“WHO has also advised the IOC to widen the scientific base of indicators to include viruses,” the statement said. “The risk assessment should be revised accordingly, pending the results of further analysis. The Rio Local Organizing Committee and the IOC are requested to follow WHO recommendations on treatment of household and hospital waste.”
The request for additional testing by WHO is a direct result of the first independent, comprehensive testing ever done for viruses and bacteria at the Olympic site. Even with documented evidence showing high levels of dangerous bacteria and viruses, Rio still said the Olympic venues would be safe by the time the games rolled around. Even the medical director for the IOC was reported to say all is on track for having safe Olympic venues.
In April of this year, Rio waste management workers had to remove 37 tons of dead fish from the Rodrigo de Freitas lake, where the 2016 Olympics rowing and canoeing events will take place. City officials blamed the dead fish on changing water temperatures brought on by heavy rains, but Estefan Monteiro da Fonseca, an oceanographer at Fluminense Federal University had a different explanation.
The oceanographer cited the massive amount of raw sewage that flows into the waters around Rio, saying the lake “has large concentrations of sulfur because of the organic material dumped into it, and depending on the winds, that material rises to the surface and kills fish.” He warned that if a die-off should occur during the Olympic Games in 2016, “Rio’s image could suffer irreparable damage.”
The IOC medical director, Dr. Richard Budgett told the AP, “The WHO is saying they are recommending viral testing. We’ve always said we will follow the expert advice, so we will now be asking the appropriate authorities in Rio to follow the expert advice which is for viral testing. We have to follow the best expert advice.”
The International Sailing Federation is going for independent testing of the venues, for the safety of their athletes. “We’re going to find someone who can do the testing for us that can safely cover what we need to know from a virus perspective as well as the bacteria perspective,” Peter Sowrey, chief executive of the ISAF, said. “That’s my plan.”
But the most interesting comment came from IOC spokesman Mark Adams. He was quoted as saying, “The health and welfare of the athletes is a top priority for the IOC. The Rio authorities are following WHO testing standards and, according to the WHO, there is no significant risk to athletes.” The question may be, what testing standards are the Rio authorities following?