Swatting Down the Zika Risk

With the competition underway in Rio de Janeiro, the media's attention has turned more toward medal counts and discolored swimming pools than mosquito-borne illnesses, and perhaps that's how it always should have been. The effects of the Zika virus are a low-grade risk, not only for the Summer Olympics but also in general, even as cases of local transmission have been confirmed in the southern United States. Control efforts in North America will keep the outbreak localized, and while scientists are still learning how the disease works and what its potential side effects are, its impact on the general population has been minimal. Though the outbreak will continue to grab headlines, the disease is waning in parts of South America, and even with funding in the United States in question, control measures have been moving forward there. Consequently, the danger Zika poses to global economic or political activities continues to...