dal, Ferrer unworried by Zika virus at Rio Open

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 16: Spanish tennis stars Rafael dal and David Ferrer insisted on Monday they were unworried by Brazil’s Zika virus outbreak as they prepare to compete at the Rio Open ATP tourment this week.

“I’m not at all afraid,” dal, 29, told a press conference. “I go out at night, and I know there’s a risk, but I’m just happy to be back here again. If I get sick well then that’s just bad luck. I can see for myself that people here are going about their business as if everything was okay, so things can’t be that bad. People are going to the beach, going out for walks, having dinner in restaurants,” the world number five continued.

Ferrer, ranked sixth in the world, said he had been reassured by Brazil’s efforts to wipe out the mosquitoes which carry the virus. “We’ve been told that everything possible has been done so that there will be no mosquitoes, which is comforting,” he said. “We’ve been wearing long trousers at night but I’m not getting obsessed by the whole thing.”

Brazil has been most affected by the outbreak that has spread rapidly through Latin America and the Caribbean, with 1.5 million people in the country infected since early 2015. While it causes only mild flu-like symptoms in most people, scientists suspect when it strikes a pregnt woman, it can cause her baby to be born with microcephaly, or an abnormally small head. IANS

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