My Opinion Story

     Brazil is supposed to hold the 2016 Olympics but currently has the zika virus being spread by mosquitoes. The fact that Brazil still wants to hold the Olympics seems rather immature to me.  They are putting the games before people's health and safety which to me is unacceptable.

      The zika virus can cause birth defects and there are no specific treatments for the symptoms of fatigue, vomiting, loss of appetite, and others.  There is also no vaccine and is spread by mosquitoes which bite year round in Brazil.  Along with this the virus is suspected to cause Guillain-Barre syndrome which causes paralysis. 

      The disease can also spread from person to person, this means the zika virus will spread to other countries.  The disease could become a worldwide thing which seems worse than not having the Olympics to me.  It is already in Africa, South America, and South Asia.

        People are already worried about going to the games and the amount of attendees would drop.  Even athletes and staff who are worried about the zika virus are advised not to go.  If there were little attendees it would result in less ticket sales so less money would be made.

       The zika virus has become a problem that cannot be ignored anymore, it was first identified in humans during 1952 and has increased in numbers since. We don't need to spread this disease further, having the Olympics would be a silly and ridiculous thing to do.

       However, the other side of the argument could say that the virus's symptoms can last less than a week and can be mild.  Also, there has been lots of money already spent on the Olympics and it would go to waste if the games were canceled.  I can understand these arguments, but I think the fact that it can cause birth defects and possibly paralysis is a good enough reason to not have the event.

        We could move the location of the Olympics if it truly must be done, this would be difficult but possible.  The Olympics could also just be canceled, they have already been canceled five times in the past so this wouldn't be the first time.

        There would be an estimated 16,000 athletes and 600,000 people in the crowd, all of these people would be at risk for getting the zika virus.  That is 616,000 people, we would put at risk.

       Personally I think people come before sports.  If a baby has a birth defect they have to live with that for the rest of their life, if we skip the Olympics one year we will always have next year.