WASHINGTON -- The threat posed by the spreading Zika virus has been alarming health officials across the Americas since last year. Republicans in Congress on Wednesday finally started show signs they were getting concerned. At least, some of them.
Emerging from a weekly meeting with fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives, several members said House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) mentioned that a top priority was dealing with the virus that causes birth defects and other ailments.
Still, none of them were willing to embrace the emergency request for $1.9 billion that the Obama administration made in February to support research and slow a disease that's already claimed at least one American life. As of May 4, the number of Americans who got the virus while traveling had reached 472.
"There is no easy solution here,” said Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.). "Throwing money at it is not the ultimate solution. The debate you are hearing now is that the president and the Senate say let’s throw $2 billion at it, but at the House, we are more mindful of our budget, saying where is it going? And at the end what does it accomplish?"
Health officials have told Congress that what they want to do is ramp up research on prevention and a vaccine, as well as build out robust response teams, all while figuring out better ways to control the mosquitoes, and educate doctors and the public -- all enormous tasks.
Last month, the Obama administration announced that it would shift $600 million from fighting Ebola and other programs to Zika to cover the gaps while Congress argues over funding.
The shift has not been without cost, Thomas Frieden, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a March briefing.
"From the CDC standpoint we are scraping together every dime we can to respond to this," Frieden said. “It’s not an easy thing to do that and it makes the response much more complex and much less smooth because there are different administrative challenges using different sources of funding.”
Health officials have warned that some 30 states are at risk for becoming home to Zika-carrying mosquitoes, and that the best way to stem the spread is to act sooner, rather than later in the warmer months. Experts predict that the virus could spread to all Western countries except for Canada and Chile, where the the virus' main carrier, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is not present. There is no vaccine against the virus, and no medication that can effectively eliminate it from a person’s system. The mosquito is also growing increasingly resistant to pesticides.
Some Republicans hadn't bothered to pay much attention to the crisis.
"It's not my issue," said Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho).
"You know what? I'm not an expert on the mosquitoes," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) "All I know is it's got the attention of leadership, and they're putting forward a plan."
Others seemed only partially convinced, and were hoping to hear more about the threats before acting.
"I'm not sure we need to be jumping into the pool until we know what temperature the water is," said Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.).
"We are moving ahead wisely but very cautiously," said Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.). "That’s one of reasons we are bringing people in, to make sure we are informed with all the details of the disease. We want to know the potentiality of the spread, as opposed to reading this article, hearing from this organization. We want to bring the top people in to tell us what is the potential problem."
Frieden and other officials from the CDC have testified about Zika and other medical threats to the nation at least seven times since February. The World Health Organization also declared Zika a public health emergency of international concern in February.
There were signs Republicans were warming up to taking more aggressive measures.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) told reporters funding could be boosted next week. Blunt said $1.1 billion of the president's request was on the table. Dent said an unspecified amount could be added to a spending bill in the House, as well.
“We will probably pass a supplemental [funding bill] to top the money the administration has got,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), referring to the money moved from Ebola to Zika. “And we will deal with it in the rest of the appropriations bills for next year. In the meantime, what the administration says it wants to do is react without paying for any of it -- basically it’s an emergency, so we don’t have to cut spending anywhere. If we are saying this is the priority, so what is less of a priority?"
The disease, which was first discovered in Uganda in the 1947, was considered rare until the early 2000s. Last year, Zika struck a number of countries in South America, especially Brazil. As of April 26, the country's health ministry reported that 1,326 babies had been born with microcephaly or brain defects. The WHO estimates Brazil will see more than 2,500 babies born with malformations as a result of the virus. Even though the symptoms can be mild for a healthy adult -- and most people don’t even know when they have the disease -- pregnant women are at grave risk. In April, CDC Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat advised women not to travel to areas where Zika is spreading.
Frieden has warned that caring for infected babies that could otherwise have been spared could dramatically raise costs.
“We know the cost of caring for one infant with a birth defect can be up to $10 million or more,” urged Frieden during a news conference in March.
Still, Republicans did not want to be pushed any faster.
"To try and create a sense of a crisis when we ought to be thoughtful and marshaling the resources, I think, is a mistake," Cole said.
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