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Bay Area Tech to Help Track Zika Virus During Rio Olympics

Olympic athletes are arriving in Rio, full of confidence, hope — and concerns about Zika.

Will they get it? How will they know if they’re at risk? Enter Silicon Valley, and the smart thermometer, as it is called.

That’s what San Francisco-based Kinsa calls its thermometer, which hooks up to your smart phone to monitor and store your symptoms as they change.

Doctors and teammates will then know if there’s a health problem on a specific team or in a specific area.

It's kind of a social network for health — or an early warning system.

"With a few simple taps you can add in symptoms, results, notes, in addition to the fever history that you have," said Kinsa CEO Inder Singh.

The thermometer is catching on so quickly with athletes that Kinsa is now offering them its product for free. Singh says six teams have already requested the thermometer and hundreds of them have been sent out.

You can track your health, with the thermometer and Kinsa app, from the Android or iOS store.

Scott tracks the Olympics on Twitter: @scottbudman

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