On Thursday, top U.S. health officials appealed to Congress with a plea for "urgent action" to combat Zika. President Barack Obama has asked that $1.8 billion be allocated to the cause, but congress has yet to act, according to reports in both The New York Times and STAT.
Senior Republicans on the Appropriations Committee are insisting that before new funds are approved, portions of the $1.4 billion dedicated to the Ebola response should be utilized in the fight against Zika virus. Health officials have stated that the majority of those funds are committed to vaccine testing and to sustain monitoring in Africa where another Ebola outbreak could flare up at any time.
"This is a serious situation that we really need to step to the plate, and we need to step to the plate very, very intensively," Anthony Fauci, MD, scientific director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters Thursday, according to STAT. "We're already doing that, but we can't sustain it if we don't have the support that we need."
Dr. Fauci also stated that a rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul approach is being considered. He described potentially diverting funds from programs developing a multi-strain protectant flu vaccine, an HIV vaccine and a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus to fund Zika programs.
"We're going to have to slow down at least one and maybe all three of those," said Dr. Fauci.
Tom Frieden, MD, director of the CDC, expressed serious worry about Puerto Rico, a place where the Zika virus' notorious link to the birth defect microcephaly could wreak havoc on large swaths of the population. Close to 34,000 babies are born annually in the territory. Dr. Frieden expects thousands of pregnant women to be infected during the hot and rainy season, which is now underway.
"We know we won't be able to protect 100 percent of the women, but for each case we prevent, we avoid a personal and family tragedy," said Dr. Frieden.
Officials say the Zika vaccine is years away, so infection prevention and mosquito control measures will be essential to the fight. Investing in virus prevention might not just be humane, but fiscally pragmatic. Dr. Frieden also pointed out on Thursday that the lifetime cost of caring for a microcephalic child to be $10 million.
More articles on the Zika virus:
New York health department to offer free Zika testing for pregnant women
OPM encourages teleworking for feds in Zika hot spots
In midst of Zika virus outbreak, WHO issues pregnancy management guidance