Buchanan calls for immediate funding decision to combat Zika virus

Immediate funding is needed to combat the Zika virus, according to U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan who sent a letter May 24 to push congressional leaders to appoint a conference committee to finalize a funding decision. In the letter, addressed to congressional leaders Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid, Buchanan stressed the importance of listening to experts combatting outbreaks like Zika.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectuous Diseases, said the mosquitos carrying the virus could be expected to enter the U.S. mainland within the next “month or so.”

Mosquito season has already started in Florida, where there are already 152 reported cases of the virus, a quarter of all reported cases in the U.S.

$589 million in leftover funds from the Ebola outbreak have been moved to fight Zika, but that leaves about $1.3 billion more that the Centers of Disease Control needs, according to Buchanan. The CDC director Tom Friedan said the funds would go toward Zika testing, mosquito control and the development of a vaccine.

The mosquito that can carry the virus is also likely to be found on 190 military installations in 27 states and three territories, according to a Pentagon memo.

“The cost of delay is unacceptably high,” Buchanan wrote.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Buchanan calls for immediate funding decision to combat Zika virus."