Signifiant research is still needed to learn about Zika and how to properly respond to it, which is part of the reason why more funding is needed, said Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell.
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More than 312 cases have been reported in 41 states, all of them linked to travel outside the U.S. But with mosquito season here, that could change – and soon.
“CDC is not able to predict exactly when Zika virus will arrive in the continental United States or how much the Zika virus could spread if and when local mosquito-borne transmission is detected”, the CDC told CNSNews.com.
On Wednesday in a teleconference, federal officials said in the coming months Zika will likely be transmitted locally in the continental United States.
“We have learned that sexual transmission of the virus is actually more common than was initially believed”.
The White House said the emergency transfer is necessary because Congress has continued to deny the administration’s .9 billion request, money that would be used to stop Zika from gaining a foothold in the United States.
“We submitted to Congress a request for emergency supplemental funding in February to fortify our efforts to combat and stay ahead of the disease, but Congress has yet to act”, Donovan said during a press conference. “Nearly two months have passed and the situation continues to grow more critical”, said Shaun Donovan, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. For instance, additional money must be approved to manufacture vaccines, purchase diagnostic tests and undertake mosquito control throughout the rainy season in Central America and the Caribbean, among other activities.
“We should not play with fire here”, Donovan continued, scoring conservative House members for their refusal to play along with the administration’s initiatives.
The National Institutes of Health is slated to start testing Zika vaccines in September, but a successful vaccine could be years away, officials said.
The diversion of money from Ebola to Zika does not leave the Ebola account completely empty.
As of April 1, there are 672 confirmed cases of Zika in USA states and territories, Burwell said.
“We need congress to step up to the plate and not do something controversial, not do something that guarantees anyone a political victory, but to do something that would make the American people safer from a virus that targets pregnant women, and their newborn babies”, said Earnest.
For more information about preventing Zika virus, see this site: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/prevention/.
Right now, doctors are working to confirm the link between Zika and the birth defect microcephaly.
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“We face two real global health challenges – Ebola and Zika – and we don’t have an option to set one aside in the name of the other”, says Burwell. But today he took that to a new level by trying to steal credit from President Obama for Zika virus funding – funding his own House has been denying. He said the administration will need to replenish the money borrowed from the Ebola fight. The main focus of the US plan is to protect pregnant women from exposure to Zika-carrying mosquitoes.
