Zika Virus Spreading

The explosion of the mosquito-borne Zika virus comes as tens of thousands of people are poised to descend on Brazil later this year for the Olympics, possibly making the international games a way to transmit the virus around the world when visitors return home. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns the Zika virus is spreading rapidly through the Americas (Brazil and elsewhere in southern and central America) and could affect as many as four million people. Health officials did say Tuesday a man from Virginia tested positive for the virus, but that there was no risk of it spreading to others because it is not mosquito season there. The WHO says the virus was originally seen as a mild risk to humans, but it has since grown rapidly to a public-health threat of “alarming proportions.” The WHO says people with the Zika virus have a mild fever, skin rash and conjunctivitis (red eye) with symptoms lasting between two to seven days. The best prevention against Zika virus, experts say, is protection against mosquito bites as no vaccine or treatment is available. Brazil reported its first Zika case in The virus is named for the Zika forest in Uganda where the virus was first discovered in a monkey nearly 70 years ago. Thus far, Zika fever has been a relatively mild disease of limited scope, with no fatalities, but its true potential is unknown.

In Other News Missouri head football coach Barry Odom announced Thursday that quarterback Maty Mauk has been dismissed from the program. He had been suspended three times since September. The latest suspension came after a video surfaced that allegedly showed Mauk "snorting a line of white powder." He was punished twice during the season, with the second program-imposed ban ending his campaign. No further information about the violations was immediately released. Last night was the last Republican debate before the nation's first voting contest in the primaries, the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1.

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