Scientists "have found dangerous drug-resistant 'super bacteria' off beaches in Rio de Janeiro that will host Olympic swimming events and in a lagoon where rowing and canoe athletes will compete when the Games start on Aug. 5," according to Brad Brooks of REUTERS.
The findings from two unpublished academic studies "concern Rio's most popular spots for tourists and greatly increase the areas known to be infected by the microbes normally found only in hospitals." They also "heighten concerns that Rio's sewage-infested waterways are unsafe."
A study published in late '14 had shown the presence of the super bacteria -- classified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an urgent public health threat -- "off one of the beaches in Guanabara Bay, where sailing and wind-surfing events will be held during the Games."
The first of the two new studies "showed the presence of the microbes at five of Rio's showcase beaches, including the ocean-front Copacabana, where open-water and triathlon swimming will take place." The super bacteria "can cause hard-to-treat urinary, gastrointestinal, pulmonary and bloodstream infections, along with meningitis." The CDC said studies show that these bacteria "contribute to death in up to half of patients infected."
The second new study, by the Brazilian federal government's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation lab, "found the genes of super bacteria in the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon in the heart of Rio and in a river that empties into Guanabara Bay."
Renata Picao, a professor at Rio's federal university and lead researcher of the first study, said, "These bacteria should not be present in these waters. They should not be present in the sea."
Cleaning the city's waterways "was meant to be one of the Games' greatest legacies and a high-profile promise in the official 2009 bid document Rio used to win the right to host South America's first Olympics."
That goal "has instead transformed into an embarrassing failure, with athletes lamenting the stench of sewage and complaining about debris that bangs into and clings to boats in Guanabara Bay, potential hazards for a fair competition" (REUTERS, 6/11).
