Obama asks Congress for $1.8B to fight Zika virus, push for vaccine

Nina Flanagan, healthcaredive.com

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Excerpt:

• President Obama will ask Congress for $1.8 billion in emergency funding to prepare and respond to the Zika virus, which is spread by two types of mosquitos [sic - JB].

• More than one million people in South America have been infected since its emergence in 2014, with origins believed to be in Brazil.

• Recent news that the non-lethal virus may be linked to at least six cases of microcephaly, a birth defect that causes incomplete brain development, has created an urgency to address how it spreads, prevention, and develop a vaccine. ...

• The State Department will receive $41 million for medical support of State Department employees and U.S. citizens in affected countries, operational activities, public diplomacy, and communications. ...