WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama’s $1.9 billion request for emergency money to combat the Zika virus has been sitting before Congress for more than two months, and there’s no obvious path forward despite a growing threat in the hot summer months and increasing public anxiety.
The administration has already transferred almost $600 million of unused Ebola funds and other money to fight Zika in the near term, but it says more is urgently needed to control the mosquitoes that spread the virus, manufacture vaccines once they are developed, and produce more accurate testing for the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said recently that no local mosquito-borne Zika virus disease cases have been reported in the U.S., but there have been 388 travel-associated cases.
The Zika virus can cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. It is spread by mosquitoes and sexual contact and is likely to spread more aggressively as mosquito season looms.
Top Republicans in the House, where tea party lawmakers hold great sway, aren’t convinced that more money is needed now and that it might be fine to wait until the fall.