U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) called for Congress on Monday to fully fund efforts to eradicate the emerging Zika virus.
Buchanan said that he supported an additional $1.9 billion in funding requested by the government to contain and eradicate the virus. His supports follows the rapid spread of the virus, including the first death on U.S. soil. Researchers said that they have learned that up to 29 percent of pregnant women infected with the virus showed fetal abnormalities. Additional evidence shows that the virus can be spread by mosquitoes or transmitted from sexual contact.
“Zika’s shadow is spreading too quickly in Florida, which has one quarter of all the Zika cases in the United States,” Buchanan said. “The rest of the country should keep in mind that summer is coming and so are the mosquitoes. Congress needs to act quickly.”
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said that its emergency operations center has been put on a “Level 1” status, a decision that has only happened three times before — during the Ebola outbreak in 2014, the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in 2009 and in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina.
The Obama administration asked Congress to approve a $1.9 billion spending package last month to combat Zika, however, partisan battles have stalled any action on the request.