the Olympics will accelerate the spread of Zika around the world

Chris Wood reckons that Europes vice captains will kick the life into anybody on the Ryder Cup team who isnt on top of his game before the first shot is hit on Friday.But the BMW Championship winner is not worried. He has been so excited about playing in the competition that he has been watching highlights of the dramatic 2012 Medinah edition in bed at night.Woods focus has been pretty impressive too. When he talked to ESPN, he had forgotten that the last time he played at Hazeltine -- at the 2009 PGA Championship -- he had a brush with the law on the way.It was probably the first time I traveled to the States on my own, he said. I had quite messy hair, backpack on and had just got off a 10-hour flight. The sheriff decided to pull me in and sit me in a room for two hours.You cant blame them [the police], because they are only trying to keep everybody safe, but for a 21-year-old lad, it was quite intimidating.Im sure it will be slightly quicker to get through this time and I wont be standing with 300 people, Wood added. I wont be in my flip-flops and with long hair. Hopefully, they can sneak us round the back and into a car.The European team arrived at Minneapolis airport early afternoon local time on Monday, and Wood was one of six Ryder Cup rookies among them.For some, having so many players lacking experience of the competitions unique atmosphere has been seen as a disadvantage; by contrast, the Team USA roster had just two competition rookies -- Brooks Koepka and captain Davis Love IIIs final wild-card pick Ryan Moore.The enthusiasm of players such as Wood, however, is hard to knock.Even if youre not feeling ready for the Ryder Cup, I think the whole experience will lift you, he said.Captain Darren Clarke and the vice captains -- particularly Ian Poulter -- I would have thought would kick the life into you if anybody wasnt quite on their game, but I dont think Ill be in that position.To say Im excited about it is an understatement, Wood continued. Weve all seen it, and Ive been watching the Medinah highlights on my iPad just before I go to sleep. For me, that is the one to watch: It was so amazing and inspirational. To know that Im going to be a part of that ...The whole team environment, I absolutely love, and to feel part of that for an entire week, as an individual sportsman, is unique. I cannot wait.The mental side of the contest at Hazeltine will be important, from the way players handle the crowd and media to the way they relate to their teammates and respond to their rivals.Wood has been using a performance coach for several years now and has a specific session planned to get him thinking as a team player, rather than the individual he has to be on the golf course the rest of the year.He has also talked to Clarke and vice captain Thomas Bjorn, and he has been eagerly anticipating spending more time with the European teams senior people.It will be like being a sponge for me, listening to everything, Wood said. Im really excited to hear what Poulter has to say in the team room. We all know what hes done in the Ryder Cup, and for a rookie, if you want to know how to handle it, perform and feel that passion, hes the man.Even if I just get two or three things, it will have been worth it, Wood added. Sitting and chatting to one or two players and vice captains is probably going to be more valuable than hitting balls on the range for an hour.Psychology is not for everyone, but the mental side has always been a strength of my game. If you do the basics well, you dont need an awful lot of coaching. Custom Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Custom Football Jerseys Store . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. http://www.footballcustomjerseys.com/custom-new-york-jets-jerseys-928c.html . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Custom Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. Custom San Francisco 49ers Jerseys . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. NEW YORK -- The upcoming Olympic games are not likely to have a major impact on the spread of Zika virus, although four developing countries could face a substantially higher risk, according to a new government estimate.U.S. researchers tried to calculate whether the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which is in the midst of a Zika epidemic, will lead to outbreaks that wouldnt have happened otherwise. The danger is that infected travelers might be bitten by mosquitoes after return to their home nations, which would potentially spread Zika to other people and spark an outbreak.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 19 countries that currently do not have Zika have the right conditions for outbreaks if it is imported by people returning from the Olympics. But in only four of the 19 countries is the issue considered substantial: Yemen, at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, and Chad, Djibouti and Eritrea in Africa.CDC researchers made their predictions based on a range of factors, including air travel patterns between Brazil and other countries and the presence of a tropical mosquito that is the main way Zika spreads to people.The four nations at greatest risk from the Olympics generally have no or very few travelers to Zika outbreak countries. Only a dozen to several dozen people are expected to travel to the Rio games from each of these countries, but those small numbers represent a notable jump from regular traffic volume to outbreak countries, said the CDCs Dr. Martin Cetron, one of the authors of the report.That doesnt mean health officials are predicting outbreaks in those four countries, Cetron added.The Olympics are happening at a colder time of year in Rio, when mosquito activity is at a minimum. If people take precauutions against mosquito bites, these four countries could be spared Olympics-related outbreaks, he said.ddddddddddddThe Olympic and Paralympic games are expected to draw an estimated 350,000 to 500,000 international visitors and athletes from 207 countries. But health officials say that travel this year will account for less than 1 percent of international travel to Zika outbreak countries.Last month, the World Health Organization rejected calls by some to cancel the summer Olympics, saying there is a very low risk the Olympics will accelerate the spread of Zika around the world.The new CDC report seems to confirm that assessment, said Justin Lessler, a Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist who focuses on computational approaches to predict the spread of disease.I think the most important result highlighted in this paper is how insignificant the additional risk of global Zika transmission caused by the Olympics is, Lessler said, in an email.Earlier this year, the WHO declared Zika a global emergency after seeing an epidemic spreading through Latin America and the Caribbean.In most cases, Zika infections cause, at worst, mild symptoms that disappear within a week. But the WHO declaration was driven by a link between infections in pregnant women and the development of severe brain-related birth defects in their fetuses.Health officials have advised pregnant women to avoid travel to Zika outbreak countries, including Brazil while the Olympics are taking place.Zika can also be spread through sex, and health officials are advising condom use and other precautions for travelers.---Online:CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr ' ' '