Obama Administration Asks for Funds to Fight Zika Virus

The Obama administration will ask Congress for one-point-eight-billion dollars to respond to the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
Though officials have not documented the transmission of Zika from mosquitoes within the US, the World Health Organization has warned that the virus is expected in every country in the Americas except for Canada and Chile.
The White House said the emergency funding would be used for mosquito control programs, vaccine research, and education and improving health care for low-income pregnant women.
The Zika virus has been linked to microcephaly, a condition associated with incomplete brain development in newborns.
The government’s response is focused on pregnant women or women who are hoping to get pregnant.
At a White House Press briefing today, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that, though serious, the Zika Virus is unlikely to affect most people.
 
The disease has been detected in US territories, including Puerto Rico, and at least fifty Americans have returned to the US having contracted the virus in other countries.