PoliticsCongresszika virusRick Scott

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Tells Congress To 'Show Up' In Fight Against Zika

Federal funding allocated toward fighting the disease is expected to run out later this month.
Reuters

(Reuters) - Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott on Sunday accused the federal government of lagging in providing assistance to combat the spread of the Zika virus in a Miami-area neighborhood, the site of the first U.S. transmission of the virus.

Scott was speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about the neighborhood of Wynwood, where crews began aerial spraying on Thursday to kill virus-carrying mosquitoes. Zika can cause microcephaly, a rare but devastating birth defect.

The governor said state health authorities had identified 16 cases of Zika that were spread by local mosquitoes and criticized the federal government for failing to get more involved in battling the virus.

Scott said he asked U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Thomas Frieden earlier this week for 10,000 additional Zika preparedness kits.

“We still need the federal government to show up. The President and Congress have to work together. This is a national, international issue. It’s not just a Florida issue,” Scott said.

A representative for the CDC could not be immediately reached on Sunday.

President Barack Obama, a Democrat, earlier this week called on Congress to approve more funds to fight Zika’s spread in the United States, saying that money to fight the outbreak is rapidly running out.

Scott’s comments come a day after Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida stirred controversy by telling political news outlet Politico that pregnant women infected with Zika should not be able to get an abortion, even when there was evidence the baby might be born with severe microcephaly.

“I understand a lot of people disagree with my view – but I believe that all human life is worthy of protection of our laws,” Rubio, a former candidate for his party’s presidential nomination, told Politico. “But if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life.”

U.S. health regulators said on Friday that they had cleared the way for a trial of genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida that can reduce mosquito populations, potentially offering a new tool to fight the local spread of Zika and other viruses.

U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies. The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.

The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Frank McGurty and Alan Crosby)

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Before You Go

Zika Virus In Brazil
(01 of08)
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In Oct. 2015, Brazil alerted the World Health Organization to a sharp increases of babies born with microcephaly, a birth defect in which babies' heads are abnormally small.

A 4-month-old baby born with microcephaly is held by his mother in front of their house in Olinda, near Recife, Brazil, February 11, 2016. (credit:Nacho Doce / Reuters)
(02 of08)
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Health officials in Brazil suspected that the sharp rise in microcephaly was linked to the country's ongoing Zika virus outbreak -- a mild, mosquito-borne disease that is estimated to have infected as many as 1.5 million people in Brazil.

Physiotherapist Jeime Lara Leal exercises 19-day-old Sophia, who is Ianka Mikaelle Barbosa's second child and was born with microcephaly, at Pedro l Hospital in Campina Grande, Brazil February 18, 2016. (credit:Ricardo Moraes / Reuters)
(03 of08)
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Brazilian health officials soon advised women to delay pregnancy if possible, to prevent microcephaly cases. While they say the link between the two conditions is clear, WHO and other authorities say more research needs to be done before confirming the connection.

Jackeline, 26, uses a green bottle to stimulate to her son Daniel who is 4-months old and born with microcephaly, inside of their house in Olinda, near Recife, Brazil, February 11, 2016. (credit:Nacho Doce / Reuters)
(04 of08)
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The zika virus was first identified in Africa, spread to parts of Asia and then reached the Americas in 2014, researchers suspect. The Aedes mosquito carries the disease.

An aedes aegypti mosquito is seen inside a test tube as part of a research on preventing the spread of the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases at a control and prevention center in Guadalupe, neighbouring Monterrey, Mexico, March 8, 2016. (credit:Daniel Becerril / Reuters)
(05 of08)
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Researchers suspect that the Zika virus is also linked to the spike of a rare, autoimmune disease called Guillain-Barré syndrome that can result in temporary paralysis.

A lab technician analyses blood samples at the 'Sangue Bom' (Good Blood) clinic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 25, 2016. (credit:VANDERLEI ALMEIDA via Getty Images)
(06 of08)
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There is no cure or vaccine for Zika virus. The most reliable way to prevent transmission is to destroy the mosquitos that carry it.

Joseph Blackman, a Miami-Dade County mosquito control inspector, uses a sprayer filled with a pesticide in an attempt to kill mosquitos that are carrying the Zika virus on October 14, 2016 in Miami, Florida. (credit:Joe Raedle via Getty Images)
(07 of08)
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Zika virus is now endemic in dozens of countries and territories. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning to all Americans, and pregnant women in particular, to follow strict guidelines in preventing mosquito bites when traveling to these areas. Pregnant women were also advised to delay travel if possible, while women who want to become pregnant were advised to speak with their healthcare providers before traveling.

An employee of the Health Ministry sprays anti-mosquito fog in an attempt to control dengue fever at a neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo by Risa Krisadhi/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) (credit:Pacific Press via Getty Images)
(08 of08)
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Several research institutes and companies are now trying to figure out how to create a vaccine for Zika virus. However, it will be years before anyone develops a reliable vaccine, researchers predict.

A nurse from the FioCruz Foundation applies the dengue vaccine to social worker Ana Paula Rocha, 41, who volunteered for the vaccine tests. (credit:NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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