Zika Battle Underscores Need for Robust Public Health System

By Bryan Thompson

Published November 14, 2016 at 6:40 PM CST

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State Epidemiologist Charlie Hunt (Photo Courtesy of Kansas Department of Health and Environment)

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There have been 17 cases of Zika infection in Kansas since the virus first appeared in the Americas last year. All of the Kansas cases involved people who contracted the disease while traveling in countries with more tropical climates. As Heartland Health Monitor’s Bryan Thompson explains, state health officials are mounting a campaign to prevent Zika from gaining a foothold here.

Bryan Thompson is a reporter for the KHI News Service in Topeka and a contributor to Heartland Health Monitor, a consortium of news outlets covering health and health policy issues in Kansas and Missouri.

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Bryan Thompson

Bryan Thompson has been KPR's Health Reporter since 2000. He's a lifelong Kansan, and a graduate of Wichita State University. He's been involved in radio news longer than he'd care to admit, serving as news director at stations in El Dorado, Liberal, and Salina before joining KPR. He and his wife, Cindy, are the parents of six outstanding children--one of whom now looks down on them from above. In his spare time, Bryan enjoys music and sports.

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