Pregnant Savannah Guthrie to Skip Rio Olympics Because of Zika

Savannah Guthrie, Today anchor, announced on the NBC show Tuesday morning that she was expecting her second child, and would not cover the Summer Olympics in Brazil based on her concerns about the Zika virus.

NBCUniversal employees are not required to travel to Rio if they are concerned about Zika, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The mosquito-borne virus can cause birth defects in pregnant women, such as microcephaly, in which the baby is born with an abnormally small head. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that pregnant women avoid traveling to areas within parts of South America, Central America, the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean — including Brazil.

“I’m not going to be able to go to Rio, so you’ll have to go to beach volleyball without me,” Guthrie said Tuesday morning on Today, sitting with her colleagues.

Some athletes have voiced concern about exposure to Zika in Rio as well, and American cyclist Tejay van Garderen declined to participate in the Games due to his wife’s pregnancy.