Be Zika alert but not alarmed: Australia

The Australian Olympic team's medical director is telling the nation's athletes to be alert but not alarmed at the spreading Zika virus in Brazil.

Source: Reuters

Australia's Olympic athletes should be alert but not alarmed at the spreading Zika virus in Brazil, the team's chief medico says.

David Hughes, the Australian team's medical director, believes polluted waters at the sailing venue will pose greater risks to athletes than the mosquito-borne Zika virus at the Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Hughes says while the link between the Zika virus and birth defects hasn't been proven, Australia is planning on the assumption it is correct.