How did everyone not know the water at Rio is contaminated?

Between Zika, filthy water and crime, the 2016 Rio Olympics had a lot of doubters. ... the kind with words like "super bacteria" — will no doubt continue to find worrying levels of contamination in this mega-city's waters if Rio doesn't make some serious changes. ... But Zika has largely been a non-issue in Rio. read more

So now, with the Olympics closing in, Guanabara bay (and other bodies of water in Rio) are at a simply deplorable state, and nothing can be done in time to solve this issue overnight. A common theme in South America as a whole, if I may add. read more

If the water has been contaminated with raw sewage, as has been reported, then a number of common pathogens could be lurking there and make people ill, experts say. "There are many types of microbes in raw sewage that have the potential to cause human disease," said Stephen Morse, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. read more