USOC: Athletes concerned about Zika virus should skip Rio

With fewer than six months remaining until the start of the Rio Olympic Games, a new threat has emerged to the Games' stability: the Zika virus.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has told the organizing bodies of various American sports that if athletes or support staff are concerned about the Zika virus, they should consider not traveling to Rio for the August Games, according to a new Reuters report. The USOC delivered the message to various sports federations in a late-January conference call.

"One of the things that they immediately said was, especially for women that may be pregnant or even thinking of getting pregnant, that whether you are scheduled to go to Rio or no, that you shouldn't go," said Donald Anthony, an Olympian and the head of U.S. Fencing. "And no one should go if they feel at all as though that that threat could impact them."

The World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency in connection with the Zika virus, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is recommending that women who are pregnant or seeking to become pregnant avoid travel to regions, including Brazil, which are hard-hit by the virus. Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, is suspected of causing the birth defect microcephaly. Reuters indicates that more than 33 countries, mostly in the Americas, have sustained outbreaks of the Zika virus. The issue is so critical that in El Salvador, women are being advised to delay getting pregnant until 2018.

Every Olympic Games faces concerns and criticism right until the torch is lit, and Rio is no exception. Most concerns have been about the environmental condition of Rio's waters for aquatic events, but a Zika virus threat could cut significantly into the hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend this year's Games.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.