Congress Vacations While Zika Virus Spreads Locally in U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As confirmation of the United States’ first four locally acquired, mosquito-transmitted Zika virus cases came out of Florida on Friday, members of Congress still had more than a month left on their long recess. The country’s top lawmakers headed out on the summer break in mid-July after failing to pass emergency funding requested by President Barack Obama to fight the potential spread of the virus.

While Congress isn’t expected to reconvene until Tuesday, Sept. 6, calls for swift action on funding were issued loud and clear across the country by early Friday afternoon. The confirmation of the four Florida cases – two in Miami-Dade County and two in Broward County – “should be a wake-up call to Congress,” White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz was quoted by several media outlets as saying.

“This is the news we’ve been dreading,” Dr. Edward R.B. McCabe, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the March of Dimes, said in a Friday statement. “Our nation must accelerate education and prevention efforts to save babies from this terrible virus."

Earlier this year, Obama pitched a $1.9 billion emergency funding package to help fight the spread of the Zika virus in the United States. While that proposal received some support from both Democrats and Republicans, the issue ultimately became bogged down in Congress. A bipartisan compromise bill was eventually floated, but failed. Another attempt was made before the summer recess, but that, too, failed due to disputes about provisions that would have restricted funding for birth control in the United States and Puerto Rico, NBC reported. The failed July bill also represented a significant reduction in Obama’s requested $1.9 billion with only about $1.1 billion allotted.

“It is especially unfortunate that Congress adjourned for the summer recess last week without passing legislation to provide more federal resources to combat Zika,” McCabe said. “Congressional leaders should do everything in their power to ensure that they will be ready to send bipartisan legislation to the President’s desk immediately upon their return in September.”

See Also:

• Florida Promises ‘Aggressive Mosquito Control Efforts’
• Zika Virus in Florida: March of Dimes Offers Advice, Warnings for Pregnant Women
• 1st Baby Born With Zika Virus-Related Defect Born In Florida
• CDC Records First Female-to-Male Zika Virus Transmission
• Zika Virus: 'We Can't Protect Women and Children,' CDC Chief Says

Zika virus is a mosquito-borne illness that is characterized by a fever, rash and joint pain. While the illness typically resolves within a week, some severe cases may require hospitalization.

The CDC has confirmed that the Zika virus is responsible for causing severe defects in unborn children, including microcephaly, which leaves babies with abnormally small heads and often with brains that do not develop properly.

Until Friday, the 1,400 or so cases identified in the U.S. had all been contracted while people were traveling out of the country or through sexual transmission. The CDC has confirmed a number of sexually transmitted Zika virus cases in the country. The 15th case, reported in New York earlier this month, was the first in which a woman transmitted the disease to a man. New York, like Florida, has also had a baby born with a Zika virus-related defect.

“This is exactly what the nation’s top disease fighters alerted Congress about for months,” U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Florida, said following Friday’s announcement. “It’s critical now that we immediately direct all necessary federal resources to this health crisis to protect the public. Millions of Floridians – and Americans at large – are at risk as the hot summer months roll on and mosquitoes continue to spread.”

In June, Florida’s Congressional Delegation met with members of the healthcare community, including representatives from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to discuss the threat Zika might pose.

“We can’t protect women and children,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, told the delegation, according to a report released by Buchanan’s office. Frieden told 12 members of the delegation the Zika virus is “unprecedented” in its link to the devastating birth defect microcephaly. What’s more, “It will take years to develop a vaccine.”

It is unclear if Congress will return in September ready to act on funding.

Photo courtesy of the CDC by James Gathany