Casey urges action on Obama’s Zika virus plans

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey wants to fight a virus with federal funding.

In a press call Thursday, the Democrat from Scranton said he is encouraging fellow members of Congress to approve the request from President Barack Obama for $1.8 billion to go toward fighting Zika, the mosquito-spread virus sweeping through South and Central America.

So far, there are 52 cases of Zika in the U.S., all of which can trace their origins to foreign travel, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just this week, the Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed that two of those cases are women from the Keystone State.

While no cases have been spread by mosquitoes domestically, Casey doesn’t want to wait to fight that battle when it happens.

“As we learned with Ebola, pathogens can travel the world rapidly,” he said.

In 2014, Ebola, previously all but unheard of outside of Africa, traveled to the U.S., killing two.

The president’s proposal would send $828 million to the CDC for mosquito control, lab preparedness and virus surveillance. Another $200 million would go to the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration for diagnostic research, $210 million for an urgent and emergent threat fund aimed at future outbreaks, $335 million for United States Agency for International Development education and $41 million to the State Department.

Scientists like Penn State Hershey virologist Wallace Greene say Zika infections, by themselves, are not alarming. They are not deadly and take only about a week to run their course, if someone is unlucky enough to be in the small percentage of people who even get sick.

What makes them serious is the effect on pregnant women, who can experience miscarriages or whose babies can develop birth defects such as microcephaly. There is also a link between Zika outbreaks and an uptick in Guillain-Barre syndrome.

“This is not a threat we can take lightly,” said Casey.

But on Wednesday, House Republicans were urging more of a wait-and-see attitude.

“There is much scientists admit they don’t know about the Zika virus itself,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said as he chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s global health subcommittee. “Lack of knowledge and misinformation has stoked apprehension and fear among many.”

Casey said he is sending a letter to appropriations leaders pushing for the funding.

“This isn't a time for some philosophical funding debate,” he said. “We don’t have time for playing around with this. We’ve got to meet this head on.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Casey urges action on Obama’s Zika virus plans."