I hate diseases. I'm not a germ phobe or anything... I don't have any weird compulsions or anything, but it just kind of freaks me out to think that whatever it is that's causing you to get all snotty and sneezy is going to travel through the air and get into my mouth and cause me to get snotty and sneezy. That's just... gross.

There's an outbreak of the mumps in Iowa right now, and it's spreading to the surrounding states. Over 1,000 people have caught the mumps since the outbreak, and I don't believe it's slowing down at all.

Fortunately, the mumps is rarely dangerous. No deaths or complications have been reported yet, but apparently it can cause problems if left unchecked.

From the article:

Mumps is a virus spread by coughing and sneezing. The most common symptoms are fever, headache and swollen salivary glands under the jaw. But it can lead to more severe problems, such as hearing loss, meningitis and fertility-diminishing swollen testicles.

Fun. Hopefully that's a problem that only affects boys.