How can an outdoors column like mine not touch on the subject of Zika – and then, after touching it, refrain from unprotected human contact for at least eight contagious weeks? Hey, that’s how long Zika can course through our veins, once within.

For ardent outdoors types, Zika is now the 800-pound mosquito in the room. Imagine the sound of that bugger bouncing off the ceiling at night. Hell, you hit it with a shot of Raid and you could get crushed to death.

Whether you pronounce it zick-a or zeek-a, this sickness has come on like a disease gangbuster.