Talk about taking one for the team. In an upcoming study announced last Tuesday, the U.S. Olympic Committee, in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, is hoping to volunteer its own staffers and U.S. Olympic athletes for a study that will help researchers answer some basic questions about the Zika virus.
Zika has spread to more than 60 countries and caused more than 1,600 serious birth defects, mostly in Brazil. The USOC is hoping to enroll at least 1,000 men and women among the athletes, coaches, and USOC staffers attending the summer games in Rio de Janeiro, as well as their partners. The 2016 U.S. Olympic team is expected to contain over 500 athletes, and the USOC counts more than 3,000 employees with plans to travel to Brazil.
