New Zika study will use Olympic athletes as test subjects

The National Institutes of Health is funding a new study of the Zika virus that will observe exposure among Olympic athletes, coaches, and other Olympic Committee staff in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during the Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The study "aims to improve understanding of how the virus persists in the body and to identify potential factors that influence the course of infection," according to a NIH press release put out this morning. The games start on August 5th and extend to September 18th with the conclusion of the Paralympics.

Dr. Carrie L. Byington of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City will lead the study, and the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is providing the...