CDC Gives Zika Funding to States, Urges Congress to Help

Federal health officials, scrambling to fund efforts to combat the spread of the Zika virus in the United States, said on Tuesday they have provided more stopgap money to various locales while calls grew for Congress to cut short its recess and act.

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Federal health officials, scrambling to fund efforts to combat the spread of the Zika virus in the United States, said on Tuesday they have provided more stopgap money to various locales while calls grew for Congress to cut short its recess and act.

 

Concern is mounting about the threat posed by the mosquito-borne virus after authorities in Florida last week reported the first signs of local transmission of Zika in the continental United States.

 

The Florida Department of Health on Tuesday said it was investigating one more case of locally transmitted infection, bringing to 15 the number of people infected by the bite of local mosquito in the same one square mile (2.6 square km) area of Miami-Dade County.

 

President Barack Obama in February asked the Republican-led Congress to approve about $1.9 billion in emergency funds to fight Zika at home and abroad and pursue a vaccine, but lawmakers have not passed funding legislation.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it provided more than $16 million to 35 states and five territories to help detect any cases of microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies, and other Zika-related conditions.

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Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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