2016 Rio Olympic organizers vow to introduce viral testing in polluted games waters

Fish carcasses litter the Jacarepagua lagoon shore in front of Olympic Park, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015. Thousands of tilapia, sea bass and mullets started washing up Friday. Brazilian environmentalist and biologist Mario Moscatelli says the fish most likely died because of insufficient oxygen due to pollutants and untreated human waste flowing into the lagoon from nearby condominiums and sprawling shantytowns. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) (The Associated Press)

FILE -In this Aug. 22, 2015 file photo, backdropped by Sugar Loaf Mountain, athletes compete in the men's marathon swimming test event, ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, off Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rio's sewage-filled waters are more than just a health risk. For open-water swimmers at the Olympics next year on famous Copacabana Beach, avoiding the bacteria and viruses will become part of the race strategy and could determine who gets a medal, and who doesn't. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File) (The Associated Press)

LONDON – Olympic organizers have promised to introduce viral testing in the polluted waters in Rio de Janeiro where about 1,400 athletes will compete in next year's games.

The IOC and Brazilian organizers have repeatedly insisted that only bacterial testing was required despite an independent five-month analysis by The Associated Press showing dangerously high levels of viruses from human sewage at all Rio Olympic water venues

But local organizing committee head Carlos Arthur Nuzman told the AP on Tuesday that "the viral tests, we will do and we will repeat this because the most important (thing) for us is the health of the athletes."

Nuzman says organizers are working "on a daily basis to create the test" but gave no indication when it would be ready.