More state money sought for Zika fight here
With Congress still unable to agree on how much to spend on fighting the Zika virus, an influential Texas lawmaker is calling for special state funding for at-risk areas such as Harris County.
State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, chair of the health and human services committee, asked the head of the Health and Human Services Commission to identify money there and at other state agencies to assist local governments to prepare for and respond to what promises to be the biggest public health threat of the summer.
“More work needs to be done to ensure the state is prepared to respond appropriately and effectively should Texas residents contract the Zika virus,” Schwertner wrote in a May 26 letter to Charles Smith, the health commission head.
“While I appreciate the work of the Department of State Health Services to develop an initial state Zika Plan, I believe a more robust strategy is necessary to guide the response of state and local authorities faced with a local transmission of Zika, or with a larger-scale outbreak.” Houston vulnerable
In addition, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, DHouston, said Friday she is setting up a regional Zika task force to coordinate ef- forts by Galveston, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Harris counties to prevent the virus from spreading.
U.S. transmission of the virus could come in a month or so, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last week. Gulf Coast areas, such as Texas, Loui- siana and Florida, are expected to be the first destinations.
Mosquitoes capable of transmitting the Zika virus are already showing up in Harris County mosquito control traps and should increase in numbers in coming weeks because of the rain, humidity and increasing temperatures. The county’s mosquito season typically peaks in July and August.
Zika is not considered fatal, but it has been linked to a broad array of birth defects and neurological disorders.
Houston is considered particularly vulnerable to the mosquito-borne virus. It is home to the two types of mosquitoes that transmit the virus and the site of travel back and forth with Latin American countries reporting the most cases. It includes many pockets of poverty, linked to the disease’s spread because conditions like dilapidated housing, standing water and poor street drainage help the virus thrive. Regional task force
Jackson Lee met last week with two leading health officials — Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, and Houston Emergency Management Services Director David Persse — to establish the regional Zika task force. The task force, scheduled to meet July 7, will comple- ment the work of state and Houston Zika task forces.
The Houston congresswoman said she is still hopeful Congress will soon strike a deal to provide emergency Zika funding to local communities, even though Congress on Thursday left the Capitol for an almost two-week break far from agreement. President Barack Obamahas requested $1.9 billion, but the Senate reduced it to $1.1 billion and the House is only proposing $620 million.
Schwertner’s letter said the lack of “a clear commitment from the federal government … coupled with the uncertain timeline of Texas receiving additional federal funds, only further complicates the challenge faced by Texas in responding to the threat posed the Zika virus.”
Schwertner called for “a clear and concise plan of action” for how each county or region intends to respond to the Zika virus, including detailed contingency plans to be enacted in the event of local transmission.