Zika funds finally pass amid more Florida cases

Zika mosquitoes
Zika mosquitoes

Dean Calma, IAEA / Flickr cc

A day after the Senate and House passed a budget that contained $1.1 billion in Zika funding, reports from Florida and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show the disease is still a threat to much of the Americas.

In other new developments with the disease, the CDC today urged pregnant women to avoid nonessential travel to a large part of Southeast Asia due to virus activity there and uncertainty about the risks from infection there.

Groups react to Zika bill

Though the legislation passed yesterday will help fund vaccine research and disease diagnostics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (ISDA) admonished lawmakers for failing to replenish funds that would help control other public health threats, including Ebola.

"We know that when Zika became a top concern for CDC with local transmission with Florida, there was an urgency to act but no dedicated funding stream for Zika virus," said Amesh Adalja, MD, from IDSA's public health committee and senior associate with the UPMC Center for Health Security, in an interview with CIDRAP News. "Instead they took money from other public health crises that were no longer an emergency state, which is not the optimal way to fund a response."

In a press release e-mailed to reporters, ISDA officials said, "We are disappointed that the package fails to replenish resources redirected from other public health needs, including from funds allocated to ongoing impacts of the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak. The infectious disease outbreaks of the last 2 years alone have underscored the importance of prepared and well-equipped health systems. We hope that Congress will add to these essential resources in the near future."

Adalja said that it's hard to know how far $1.1 billion will go in fighting Zika, but he's encouraged that the money will help Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) continue to incentivize Zika countermeasures, including vaccine development. 

The president of the March of Dimes, Jennifer L. Howse, MD, was much more laudatory of the bill in a statement posted on the organization’s website. "The March of Dimes applauds action tonight by the House of Representatives to provide $1.1 billion in federal funding to protect pregnant women and their babies from the devastating birth defects caused by Zika virus. We are deeply thankful that Congress has finally acted to address this crisis in public health; however, the passage of Zika funding is only the first step down a very long road."

More cases in Florida

The Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) said there have been 10 locally acquired Zika cases in the last 2 days, and reported that four more people from out of state contracted the mosquito-borne illness while visiting Florida. Eight are Miami-Dade County residents, two of whom were exposed in the Miami Beach transmission area. One patient is from Palm Beach County, and officials are investigating where he or she was exposed, and one is a Broward County resident who was probably exposed in Miami-Dade County.

There are now 119 cases of locally acquired Zika in Florida, and 15 cases in visitors who came to the state.

CDC updates Zika numbers; 1 more microcephaly case

As the numbers of locally acquired Zika cases in Florida grows, so does the number of pregnant woman in the United States and its territories with the disease.  The CDC said as of Sep 22 there were 808 pregnant women in the US with Zika (59 more than last week), and 1,490 in the territories (mainly Puerto Rico). That’s more than 100 more than last week, when the territories reported 1,348.

One more baby has been born in the United States with Zika-related congenital birth defects, raising that number to 21.  The number of Zika-linked birth defects in pregnancy losses remained at 5.

As of Sep 28, there are 3,625 travel-related cases of the virus in the United States, and 21,988 in territories. That's 311 more cases than last week's US total, and 4,359 more in the territories.

Travel warning covers 11 Southeast Asian countries

Today the CDC also issued a special travel warning for pregnant women in 11 Southeast Asian countries that have seen recent Zika activity. The warning extends to Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

Genetic analysis of Zika viruses from recent cases in Singapore suggest that the circulating strain is related to an earlier one that caused illnesses in Southeast Asia, not the one in the Americas. Health officials aren't sure if the strain in Southeast Asia can cause birth defects, and authorities in Thailand who identified four suspected cases have ruled out Zika links to two and are still investigating the other two.

On its website, the CDC writes, "US travelers to endemic areas may not be immune to Zika virus and infections have occurred among travelers to Southeast Asia. Recent variations have been observed in the number of cases reported in Southeast Asia."

The CDC stopped short of adding the countries to its travel notice but recommended pregnant women avoid nonessential travel to those countries and take precautions against mosquito bites.

See also:

Sep 28 Florida Health update

Sep 29 Florida Health update

Sep 29 March of Dimes statement

Sep 29 CDC Zika update

Sep 30 CDC Zika in Asia statement

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