Obama seeks $ 1.8B to fight Zika virus’ spread
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is asking Congress for more than $ 1.8 billion in emergency funding to fight the Zika virus and the mosquitoes that spread it, but he said “there shouldn’t be a panic on this.”
Although the virus is spreading rapidly through Latin America, most people experience either mild or no symptoms. However, health officials are investigating whether the virus is linked to a birth defect — babies born with abnormally small heads, which is associated with incomplete brain development — and have advised pregnant Americans to avoid travel to affected areas.
U. S. health officials say the money is critical for research into the birth defect known as microcephaly. They also want to speed development of a vaccine and better diagnostic tests, and expand mosquito control programs. Some of the money would also aid Zika- stricken countries and territories.
“What we now know is that there appears to be some significant risk for pregnant women and women who are
thinking about having a baby,” Obama said in an interview that aired Monday on CBS This Morning.
And while experts don’t expect large outbreaks in the continental U. S., the emergency funding also would help them prepare for the possibility of transmission there as spring and summer approach. The administration is seeking the Zika money separately from the regular budget for the next fiscal year, which Obama will submit to Congress today.
“For the average American, this is not something that will change our day- today life,” Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters at a White House briefing. “Our focus is on protecting pregnant women and trying to control the mosquito.”
She said the virus is expected to come to the United States through travelers but added: “We don’t expect large- scale outbreaks. We aren’t expecting a large- scale amount of Zika infections.”
Most of the money would go to health officials for such things as education, improving laboratory testing capacity, and establishing rapid response teams. About $ 250 million of assistance would be directed specifically to Puerto Rico through extra Medicaid funding, and $ 200 million would go toward research and commercialization of new vaccines and diagnostic tests.
The remainder, about $ 335 million, would go to the U. S. Agency for International Development to help affected countries provide training to health workers, stimulate private sector research and help pregnant women gain access to repellent to protect against mosquitoes.
Also Monday, the CDC said its emergency operations center, a command center that has been coordinating the Zika response, was being put on its highest level of alert.
Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress, said the assistance would be used in part to help boost health services provided to pregnant women. He said the money also would be used for prevention and detection.
The U. S. territory has 22 confirmed cases of the mosquitoborne virus. Among them are a pregnant woman in her first trimester and a man who developed a temporary paralysis known as Guillain- Barre.
The Pan American Health Organization reports 26 countries and territories in South and Central America and the Caribbean with local Zika transmission. To date, there has been no transmission of the Zika virus by mosquitoes within the U. S., but some American travelers — 50 with laboratory- confirmed cases between December and last week — have returned home with the infection.
Gov. Rick Scott of Florida declared a health emergency in four counties last week after at least nine cases of the virus were detected there.
One case in Texas is believed to have been transmitted through sex, and last week officials in Brazil, hardhit by Zika, reported finding the virus in saliva and urine.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Zika can spread through those body fluids, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Disease, at the White House briefing. Fauci said the main focus is on mosquitoes.
Zika usually is transmitted through bites from the Aedes aegypti species, which is found in Florida, along the Gulf Coast and in states that border Mexico. Fauci noted that those same mosquitoes spread dengue and chikungunya, cousins of Zika, and that there has been some transmission of those viruses in recent years. Some of the emergency funding would help the government prepare for possible transmission of Zika.
Fauci said the United States had prevented the outbreak of those similar viruses by curbing the transmission by mosquitoes.
“Historically, we have faced this before,” he said.
While he and Schuchat said pregnant women should consider deferring plans to visit areas affected by Zika, they stopped short of recommending that they should cancel travel altogether.
“We know this is a very scary time for pregnant women,” Schuchat said.
A vaccine against Zika may take some time, the officials said. First- phase clinical trials are likely to begin during the summer, they said, with more advanced trials next year. But a widely available and effective vaccine may not be available for several years.
During his interview, Obama reiterated the need not to panic. But, he said, “We are going to be putting up a legislative proposal to Congress to resource both the research on vaccines and diagnostics but also helping in terms of public health systems.
“This is not something where people are going to die from it,” he said. “It is something we have to take seriously.”
The White House called on Congress to swiftly approve the emergency funding request.
“We are hopeful that Congress will recognize the urgency of this request and will act on it,” said spokesman Josh Earnest. “This falls into the category of things that shouldn’t break down on party lines.”
Today, administration officials are to brief Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., and other congressional leaders on the administration’s Zika prevention and response plan.
“Concern about the Zika virus is growing in our country,” said McConnell, adding that protecting constituents, especially children, “is a high priority for all of us.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., said Congress should act swiftly to strengthen the response to “Zika’s distressing spread.” But she said the measure should include funding to address the water problems in Flint, Mich.
“We have a moral responsibility to be there for the thousands of children who have already been exposed to unconscionable levels of lead,” Pelosi said.