“We had a chance to do something about this and we didn’t. It’s really about a potential Zika generation of infants. We are talking about a generation of kids whose potential disabilities will not be showing up for years, who’s really going to be held accountable for this?” James Hodges, director of the Public Health Law and Policy Program at Arizona State University’s law school.
Officials from the Florida Department of Health (FDH) are investigating the apparent first case of Zika infection in the United States of a Miami resident who had not traveled abroad and who has not been infected sexually.
The FDH has so far refused any details on this case except to say that it is "actively conducting an epidemiological investigation" with the Centers for Disease Control.
The CDC in a statement stated "At this time, state and local officials in Florida are leading the investigation, and CDC is closely coordinating with Florida officials. To date, Florida public health officials have confirmed Zika infection through laboratory testing; upon request, CDC will conduct additional laboratory testing".
Department of Health’s Daily Zika Update has a breakdown of cases in Florida by county. It does not include pregnant women due to privacy issues. According to the FDH, Florida has been “monitoring pregnant women with evidence of Zika regardless of symptoms since January. The total number of pregnant women who have been monitored is 47, with 15 having met the previous CDC case definition”.
The GOP congress has been warned repeatedly by the CDC, prior to and during the ongoing mosquito season, that there exists a very short window to act before infections in the United States begin to spread. Areas of concern are in the southern states, but the mosquito has been found in areas as far north as NYC and Kansas City. House Majority Leader Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decided to take a 7 week vacation without providing the needed funds. This failure to approve desperately needed funds has flabbergasted public health officials, and doctors. Florida has been abandoned by the GOP to fend for themselves using their own limited resources. But President Obama has been able to provide some money to the state.
This is what Zika looks like.The White House reported in a news release 7-20-16 that President Barack Obama had spoken by phone with Florida Gov. Rick Scott regarding this new case. “The President noted during the call that besides the $2 million that the CDC already provided to Florida, the CDC will funnel another $5.6 million in Zika funding through a grant this week.” These are needed funds, but far below the 1.9 billion the CDC states that they need to combat and prevent a Zika epidemic in the continental United States.
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