Brazilian officials have announced measures to prevent the spread of the Zika virus during the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games later this year.
Organizers said Sunday that venues used at the Olympics in August will be inspected daily during game times in a bid to prevent the spread of the mosquito-borne virus that has been linked to a rare birth defect and also a condition that can cause paralysis.
The Rio 2016 local organizing committee said inspectors will try to eliminate stagnant waters where mosquitoes breed.
Inspections of Olympic facilities will begin four months before the Games to get rid of mosquito breeding grounds.
FILE - General view of the Olympic Stadium, undergoing renovation to stage athletic competitions during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nov. 9, 2015.
Daily sweeps will also take place during the Games. But fumigation would only be an option on a case-by-case basis because of concerns for the health of the athletes and visitors.
Brazil is suffering from an outbreak of Zika virus, which health officials say may be behind a spike in cases of microcephaly, when infants are born with unusually small heads, as well as the paralysis-causing Guillain-Barre syndrome.
FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2015 photo, a baby named Luiza has her head measured by a neurologist in Caruaru, Brazil. Luiza, a Zika victim, was born in October with a head that was just 11.4 inches (29 centimeters) in diameter, below the range defined as healthy.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised pregnant women to reconsider travel to Brazil and 21 other countries with Zika outbreaks.