CRI听力:Brazilian Troops Begin Public Action Phase against Zika

The public action phase involves 220 thousand military personnel from the army, navy and air force.

They were deployed on the streets to hand out leaflets warning of dangers of still and stagnant water as breeding grounds for the yellow fever mosquito and methods for them to be removed and prevented.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff says the aim of the operation is to get each and every person to do their part in the war aginst the mosquito.

"The government will do its part together with the state governors, mayors, health agents and the armed forces. However, just us will not be enough. We need the population engaged in the fight in the spirit of Zika Zero and stop the mosquito from reproducing. The mosquito cannot be born."

She also says Rio will be prioritized in the operation as it is this year's Olympic host city.

"Here, Rio de Janeiro, is where the Olympics will take place, so we are in the process of an operation focused towards this issue. It is important to highlight that the virus has harmful effects for pregnant women, so we are carrying out an extremely focused operation to exterminate the mosquito whilst we do not have a vaccine. Certain cities will be prioritised, one of which is Rio de Janeiro, for obvious reasons."

The first phase was received positively on Saturday, as residents like Alan Lima welcomed the new approach.

"The Armed Forces have a lot of credibility, not only the army, but the navy and air force too, they have greater facilities than we do to address these things."

In the next phase of the operation, armed forces will visit three million homes to identify problem areas and distribute larvicide and insecticide.

It will start on Monday and cost 500 million reals or 125 million U.S. dollars.

The outbreak of Zika has affected Brazil's tourism industry and raised concerns among health officials preparing for the Olympic Games.

The Zika virus is believed to be linked to a surge in Brazil of babies being born with the brain defect microcephaly.

But there is no effective vaccine for Zika at the moment and little known about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes microcephaly.

Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,300 suspected cases of microcephaly.

The WHO earlier said that it would take at least 18 months to start large-scale clinical trials of Zika vaccine.

For CRI, this is Fei Fei.