Health officials call on Congress to approve Zika funds
Federal health officials called on Congress Thursday to approve President Obama's request for $1.8 million in emergency funding they say is desperately needed to combat the Zika virus.
The directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said their agencies' work is hampered by a lack of secure funding.
The NIAID moved money from other areas to tackle a Zika vaccine, said Anthony Fauci, director of the institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The institute may need to slow work on a universal flu vaccine, as well as ones that prevent HIV and respiratory syncytial virus, a dangerous disease in babies.
Fauci said the agency hopes to begin an early trial — called a Phase 1 trial — of a Zika vaccine by late summer or early fall, but that work depends on federal funds.
"We may find ourselves halfway through a Phase 1 trial and not being able to finish it and take the next immediate step," he said.
Historically, the pharmaceutical industry has taken little interest in developing vaccines against tropical diseases. Now, the Zika epidemic is attracting several companies who want to work with the federal government. But without secure funding, NIH could be seen as an "unreliable partner," Fauci said.
Republicans in Congress say the USA should use up $3 billion in leftover funds allocated for Ebola before spending more on Zika. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., said he's not ready to "rubber stamp" money for Zika "with no questions asked."
CDC director Thomas Frieden said his agency has shifted its staff and priorities. The agency, which has 750 staff members working on Zika, was forced to suspend work on dengue virus, a sometimes fatal illness spread by the same mosquito that transmits Zika. Hawaii is fighting a dengue outbreak that started last fall. That disease is also widespread in Puerto Rico, which faces a large Zika outbreak.
Doctors are learning more about Zika every day, with links between the virus and birth defects growing stronger by the week, Frieden said. Last week, a study found that ultrasounds revealed abnormalities in 29% of pregnant women infected with the virus. The result could be the tip of the iceberg because some of Zika's effects on babies may not be apparent until birth or childhood, Fauci said.
"The more we learn, the worse things seem to get," Fauci said.
Puerto Rico could see hundreds of thousands of Zika cases by the end of the year, with thousands of infections in pregnant women, Frieden said. Protecting those pregnant women will be harder without enough money, Frieden said.
"Puerto Rico is on the front lines of the battle against Zika," Frieden said. "We need urgent action to minimize the risk to pregnant women. Funding from Congress is urgently needed."
The CDC's facility for insect-borne diseases in Fort Collins, Colo., is now working full-time on Zika after it halted research on diseases spread by ticks.
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Federal funds are needed to track mosquitoes and test them for Zika. The process will help health officials gauge the extent of the outbreak. The CDC also needs money to study the relationship between Zika and the birth defects that increasingly appear to be caused by the virus.
Doctors will need to study the children of pregnant women infected by Zika for years to see if they have any health problems, Frieden said. Children whose mothers were infected with rubella, or German measles, can develop problems even 20 years later.
"We hope Congress will rapidly provide resources for a robust response," Frieden said.
Contributing: Erin Kelly.