Immediate Federal Aid Needed to Combat Zika Virus: Lowey

With more than 1,700 American affected by the Zika virus, Rep. Nita Lowey and the chief medical officer of the March of Dimes have called for immediate federal resources to address the spread of the virus in the United States.

During a press conference call Tuesday, Lowey, D-Harrison, said it’s been four months since the Obama administration requested emergency funds to ramp up efforts to prevent the spread of the Zika virus in the U.S.

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“Summer is here, mosquitoes are biting and U.S. travel-related cases continue to rise,” she said. “We cannot wait any longer to provide the resources for public health professionals to protect our communities.”

While only one baby, whose mother contracted the virus abroad, has been born in the United States, Lowey said “every day that passes is a missed opportunity to protect pregnant American women who could become at risk of contracting Zika.”

President Obama requested $1.9 billion in emergency funds in February to provide federal support primarily for mosquito control and monitoring, along with the development of medical diagnostics and vaccines.

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Three months later, and after Zika had been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed what Lowey called a "woefully inadequate" $622 million in non-emergency funds, which were taken from funds that were earmarked to control the Ebola virus.

The Senate passed a bill for $1.1 billion in emergency funds last month.

Lowey was appointed to serve on the House-Senate conference committee to negotiate a final bill.

Dr. Edward McCabe, the March of Dimes chief medical officer, said his organization continues to urge Congress to pass funding necessary to combat the Zika virus.

“We don’t have another day to waste,” he said. “If we are going to prevent untold numbers of infants from being born with devastating birth defects, we need Congress to act now.”

Lowey said, to date, 1,732 Americans have been affected by the virus. The 618 Zika cases in the continental U.S. have been acquired while travelers were in other countries where the virus is more aggressive or through sexual transmission in 11 cases after infected individuals returned home.

States in the south are most at risk for local transmission by the type of mosquito that most commonly carries Zika. However, a different mosquito strain has been shown to carry Zika in prevalent in southern New York, where 130 travel-related cases have been identified.

Lowey acknowledged that state and local public health officials have increased mosquito control and monitoring efforts along with education, but said urgency is important.

“If we wait until local transmission is happening on our shores,” she said, “it could be too late to save many pregnant women and newborns from the dire impact of Zika. Congress must act now.”