Follow us on:   

US: Zika funding nearly spent
August 31, 2016, 6:05 pm

Brazilian scientists continue to find other possible Zika links to brain diseases [Xinhua]

Brazilian scientists continue to find other possible Zika links to brain diseases [Xinhua]


Despite the Obama administration’s diverting some $81 million from other health care programs to fund research to find a Zika vaccine, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the money allocated to battling the spreading virus had almost run out.

This is the second time in as many months that the CDC says that over $589 million allocated to Zika research last April has been spent, and urged the US Congress to quickly pass legislation that would increase funding.

The Obama administration had as early as February sent Congress a funding request for $1.9 billion but this was locked down in lengthy debate and no legislation to date has been approved.

The funding crunch comes at the worst time for the CDC which has been carefully monitoring the spread of the Zika virus in Florida and Puerto Rico.

The number of locally-transmitted Zika cases in Florida jumped to 50 earlier this week while that figure is nearer 10,000 in Puerto Rico, considered ground zero in the US.

The CDC issued a travel alert to pregnant women not to visit two districts in Miami and later the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised testing for Zika virus in all donated blood and blood components in the US.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies