Even as the federal government looks ready to ramp up its right against the Zika virus, Florida now has 16 reports of the virus in the Sunshine State as state Surgeon General Dr. John Armstrong offered an update on Monday afternoon.
All of the cases in Florida are travel related with six cases in Miami Dade, three in Hillsborough County, two in both Broward and Lee counties and Osceola, Santa Rosa and St. Johns counties all having one each.
“All cases are travel-associated,” the state Department of Health noted on Monday. “There have been no locally-acquired cases of Zika in Florida. None of the confirmed cases involve pregnant women.”
Last week, Gov. Rick Scott declared public health emergencies in counties with Zika cases with mosquito spraying in impacted areas. Armstrong urged Floridians to drain standing water on a weekly basis and urged residents and tourists to wear mosquito repellent.
In the meantime, in Washington D.C., President Barack Obama announced on Monday that he would ask Congress for $1.8 billion to fight Zika. Speaking to CBS News on Monday, Obama offered his take on the situation.
“The good news is this is not like Ebola, people don't die of Zika -- a lot of people get it and don't even know that they have it," Obama told CBS News. "What we now know though is that there appears to be some significant risk for pregnant women or women who are thinking about getting pregnant."
Obama also talked about his proposal for Congress.
"We are going to be putting up a legislative proposal to Congress to resource both the research on vaccines and diagnostics but also helping in terms of public health systems," Obama told CBS News. “But there shouldn't be panic on this. This is not something where people are going to die from it. It is something we have to take seriously.”
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., called for Congress to put mosquito control programs and vaccination development on the fast track.
Buchanan’s office noted on Monday the virus is a “threat to the United States” and praised the White House’s efforts to handle it so far.
“We need to get ahead of this emerging threat,” Buchanan said.
Other members of the Florida delegation offered their solutions on what the federal government should do against the virus.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., currently running for the U.S. Senate, backed U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s, D-Fla., idea for the Obama administration to appoint a czar to lead efforts against the Zika virus.
"With the World Health Organization declaring Zika an international health emergency and cases already being reported in Florida, action must be taken to combat the spread of this virus — both in our nation and in Central and South America,” Murphy said on Friday. “This requires a well-coordinated prevention and response strategy across all federal agencies, with teams in place to react quickly as the situation changes. The administration should immediately appoint a Zika czar to direct the multi-agency effort, a good idea first proposed by Sen. Bill Nelson. The federal government must also provide emergency funding to monitor the ongoing crisis and increase research and investment for Zika prevention and treatment.
"Florida is a center of Latin American commerce and an international tourist destination, and strong action nationally and locally to combat Zika will be especially important here,” Murphy added. “I am looking forward to being briefed further by administration officials on their efforts to combat the threats to public health posed by the spread of this virus, and I will be working closely with local governments in Florida to make sure they have the resources needed to respond strongly."
Also last week, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., urged the federal government to get ready to help Florida deal with the Zika virus.
On Thursday, Ros-Lehtinen warned South Florida, due to its ties with Central and South America, is more vulnerable than other parts of the nation to Zika and announced her support of a bill freeing money targeted to combat Ebola be shifted to fight Zika. Ros-Lehtinen also backed having the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “expand the neglected tropical disease product priority review voucher (PRV) program to encourage the development of new treatments for Zika virus."
"As an international hub for travel and trade, South Florida remains at risk for a variety of communicable diseases from all over the world,” Ros-Lehtinen said on Thursday. “Luckily, we’re blessed to have world-class local, state, and public health infrastructure and services, and amazing biomedical research institutions to help minimize the impacts of the inevitable arrival of each successive threat. I understand people’s fears and concerns over the Zika virus, and I want all South Floridians to know that I am exploring every avenue at the U.S. government’s disposal to ensure a comprehensive response that limits the spread of this virus as quickly as possible.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
