The National Institutes of Health would continue research into a vaccine and the U.S. Agency for International Development would intensify efforts to fight the virus overseas. In Montgomery County, two cases have been confirmed in non-pregnant women who traveled to countries with outbreaks. Men who visit a country where Zika is active should use condoms with any partner who could become pregnant for six months after their return; men with a pregnant partner should use condoms for the duration of the pregnancy.
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A couple of months ago, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) expressed some understandable concerns about the Zika virus.
Officials said Wednesday there have been 64 confirmed cases of Zika in pregnant women in the continental U.S. One baby has been born with microcephaly in Hawaii and more cases are being investigated.
In February, President Barack Obama requested approval from Congress to spend $1.9 billion in emergency funding for the Zika virus, but partisan politics and Republican efforts to block practically anything Obama does (even when it’s meant to help pregnant women) is keeping legislators from taking the necessary steps to approve the budget.
In other words, when Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said, “We need to get out in front of the Zika virus”, he didn’t seem to include congressional Republicans among the “we”, GOP lawmakers want the administration to somehow address the threat with inadequate funds, while Congress does no actual work on the subject.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest struck a harsher tone later in the day, promising Republicans would regret stalling Obama’s funding request.
Increasingly concerned about the spread of the Zika virus, the Obama administration said Wednesday it is transferring nearly $600 million from existing disease prevention programs in order to fight the mosquito-borne virus. They said the risk of Zika is too serious to wait for Congress to appropriate the $1.9 billion the Obama administration has asked for, so they are moving $589 from other projects for immediate Zika use.
But as Earnest was briefing reporters, the House Appropriations Committee put out a statement explaining its position.
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The White House had previously resisted moving Ebola funds, warning that Ebola had been thought to be contained before – only to re-emerge. The White House slammed members of Congress over the administration’s decision to shift more than half a billion dollars that was designated for fighting Ebola to instead be used against Zika. Voters’ fears regarding Ebola were seen as hurting Obama’s party in the 2014 midterm landslide.
