The US government has declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico amid a Zika virus epidemic.
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last declared a public health emergency in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which slammed into the New Jersey shore and flooded parts of New York City in 2012.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said she will transfer $34 million from her agency to the National Institutes of Health and will transfer another $47 million to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the newspaper reported.
WHO: An expert panel will include: Dr. Kyle Gardner, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Sarasota Memorial Hospital; Michael Drennon, epidemiologist at the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County; Matthew Smith, director of Sarasota County Mosquito Management; and Dr. Vilma Vega, an infectious disease specialist.
It’s Canada’s second case of maternal-to-fetal transmission of the virus, which has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads. Investigators and mosquito control inspectors will be working in that area, but no other details about the location or the patient were released. Zika is transmitted by mosquito bites, and the strain of mosquitoes that carry the virus does not live in the Northwest.
Zika was first detected previous year in Brazil, where it has taken its heaviest toll so far, and has spread rapidly through Latin America and the Caribbean. Many infected people will not experience any symptoms.
In the continental United States, Florida is the first state to report local transmission.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in June that Puerto Rico could see dozens, if not hundreds, of babies with microcephaly in the coming months.
President Barack Obama had asked Congress back in February for $1.9 billion to help fight Zika but lawmakers haven’t been able to agree on a spending plan.
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A bill providing $1.1 billion was blocked by Democrats after Republicans attached language to stop abortion-provider Planned Parenthood from using that government funding for healthcare services, mainly in US territories like Puerto Rico.
