Rio de Janeiro, Feb 13 (EFE).– Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff led this Saturday the National Day of Mobilization for the Fight against the Aedes Aegypti, a day during which more than 200,000 members of the armed forces set out to exterminate the mosquito that transmits dengue fever, Chikungunya and the Zika virus.

Rousseff met with community leaders this Saturday in the Zeppelin neighborhood on the east side of Rio de Janeiro, where she was accompanied by Rio de Janeiro state Gov. Luiz Fernando Pezao, Rio’s Mayor Eduardo Paes, local authorities and health officials, and where she denied, in reply to a question, that Zika would jeopardize the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games.

“We are certain of one thing: We will have the Olympic Games and we’re taking action to make sure of it,” Rousseff said, adding that in combating the virus, “some cities will have priority like Rio de Janeiro.”

Starting this Saturday and for the next four days, members of the Brazilian air force, army and navy are visiting some 3 million homes in 350 cities, while 28 of the 31 ministers in Rousseff’s Cabinet promote mosquito extermination around the country.

During the press conference, the head of state asked that more action be taken against the spread of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, while a vaccine is being created together with the United States to prevent Zika, a disease related by Brazilian scientists to the increase in the number of babies born with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads.

Defense Minister Aldo Rebelo presented in Brasilia a preliminary balance of the day and noted the “commitment” of the armed forces, which has some 55,000 military prepared to “fight the mosquito,” in a campaign complemented by the rest of the military contingent.

“The armed forces, with 55,000 trained troops, will remain in action against the mosquito after these four days of national mobilization are over,” Rebelo said.

In the southeastern state of Belo Horizonte, Finance Minister Nelson Barbosa told a press conference that “we won’t lack funds to fight Zika,” despite the belt-tightening of the budget to control public spending and put the government’s battered accounts in order.

“We’ll make cutbacks in other areas, but we’re going to protect the funds necessary to combat these illnesses,” the finance minister said.

Federal funding to fight the mosquito grew by 39 percent between 2010 and 2015, while plans for 2016 call for an increase of 924.1 million reais (some $231.6 million) for a total of 1.87 million reais (some $468.6 million).

The Health Ministry said in its weekly bulletin on the subject that 462 cases of microcephaly have been confirmed, another 765 have been dismissed, and 3,852 patients are still being examined.

Of the 462 babies diagnosed with microcephaly in the past week, 41 of them are confirmed to have been infected by the Zika virus before birth. EFE