Brazil is hosting the Olympics in six months, however, news of the Games are being overshadowed by the spread of the Zika virus raising concerns that the event could be affected.
It was supposed to be a meeting about the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games...about ticket sales, venue construction and many other issues.
However, the outbreak of the Zika virus, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquitoe, dominated the meeting. Health officials reassured a room packed with reporters that every step was being taken to prevent disease transmissions.
"The Olympic park is in an area that has a predominance of another type of mosquito that is not the Aedes (the mosquito that transmits the Zika virus) and obviously, together with the Olympic committee, we will be making routine inspections in the region to diminish the number of mosquitoes," said Daniel Soranz, Rio De Janeiro's health secretary.
Moreover, the number of mosquitoes in Rio de Janeiro typically reduces significantly in August and September, compared to the summer months.
There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika right now. The main method of combating the mosquito is to avoid its reproduction. Brazil has mobilized 220,000 soldiers to kill mosquitoes.
Speaking at a joint session of Brazil's Congress, President Dilma Rousseff said that they will not spare resources in fighting the virus, and efforts to develop a vaccine are underway .
"We will partner up with the U.S. government, with President Obama, with whom we have spoken, to establish our capacity and improve it in order to develop, as quickly as possible, a vaccine for the Zika virus," said Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff.
And money is not going to be an issue.
"There will be no lack of funding to turn around the Zika virus epidemic and handle it in the most efficient and adequate manner we possibly can, due to its effects on our population," Dilma Rousseff said.
Brazil has reported more than 4,000 suspected cases of babies born with abnormally small heads, a neurological condition suspected to be caused by Zika.
The virus can cause mild fevers and rashes. An estimated 80 percent of those infected show no symptoms at all.
Zika virus appeared in Brazil in May, and quickly spread to make the country the worst hit over 30 countries and territories in the Americas.
In neighboring Colombia, over 20,000 people have contracted the virus. The country's military are also assisting health departments to kill mosqitoes.
