Speaking at a health center near the epicenter of the Zika crisis in Miami on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton called on Congress to return to Washington “immediately” and pass emergency funding to combat the spread of the disease. “Florida needs action from the federal government now”.
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Clinton’s push for increased funding follows similar calls from the Obama administration. That has left politicians to face angry voters in Florida. The mother had traveled to El Salvador while she was pregnant. It is close to the trendy Wynwood arts and restaurant neighborhood, where 17 cases of the virus were diagnosed.
This case is being classified as “travel-related”, and officials say there isn’t a risk of infection in Texas.
With the total of non-travel related Zika virus cases under investigation in the state of Florida now up to 21, Gov. Rick Scott has made an appeal to Congress for immediate action.
“I am very disappointed that the Congress went on recess before actually agreeing on what they would do to put the resources into this fight”, Clinton said, adding she wanted Congress to reconvene for a special session to pass a $1.1 billion Zika funding package. The development was first reported by the Associated Press.
Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, blamed Democrats for the hold up.
Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health, announced Tuesday that the infant, who died a few weeks ago, had microcephaly, a medical condition linked to the Zika infection.
This month, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) joined Democrats in calling for Congress to return to vote on a Zika bill. Sen.
Tim Kaine, Clinton’s running mate and a senator from Virginia, has already indicated that he would fly back to Washington to vote on the measure.
The CDC announced the Zika outbreak in Miami earlier this month. The department is attributing these cases to an one square-mile area in the city.
The virus, researchers say, affects the fetuses mostly during the first and second trimester of pregnancy.
Additional cases are likely to be identified as testing continues, which could mean an expansion of the travel advisory.
“While he seems to be saying out loud that he wants Congress and the president to provide more funding, he conveniently leaves out that he cut almost $1 million dollars from mosquito control and closed down the state’s mosquito research lab a few years ago”, Wasserman Schultz said at a town hall in Broward County on August 8.
That money has been spent quickly during the summer mosquito season.
Brown said the prevention efforts will spill over into other areas of public health, such as improvements to the state’s Birth Defects and Problems Registry. This week, the Governor’s Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response is slated to meet again in Austin to discuss Zika and other issues.
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At least 16 people have contracted the virus as a result of the local outbreak, which officials determined was the first time Zika has been transmitted locally by mosquitoes in the continental US. Just over one-third of the public, 35 percent, is at least somewhat anxious, though only 12 percent say they are “very worried” about infection.
