Federal officials are all but certain there will be a Zika outbreak this summer.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, explained, “In the next couple of months as we approach the very active mosquito season, we project that we will see local outbreaks of Zika particularly in the Gulf Coast area around Florida Texas and other states.”Fauci says states like Florida have already had local cases of similar viruses like Dengue and Chikungunya. They’re carried by the same mosquito that carries the Zika virus.
President Obama asked for $1.9 billion to fight the virus. The House has countered with legislation that would fund a third of that.
“Well if we don't get the money the president asked for we're not going to be able to do as much or as quickly as we had planned in order to address this”, said Fauci.
Fauci says without full funding, research into a Zika vaccine could be slowed down considerably.