Democrats Block Zika Bill; Tension Mounts As Lawmakers Trade Barbs Ahead Of Recess
The Republicans are accusing Democrats of being "sore losers," while the Democrats are saying that including poison pills in the legislation is a "cynical ploy." Meanwhile, the vote against the funding leaves very little time for the two sides to work out their differences before summer recess.
The New York Times:
Zika Bill Is Blocked By Senate Democrats Upset Over Provisions
Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a federal spending bill that would have provided $1.1 billion to fight the mosquito-borne Zika virus, saying Republicans had sabotaged the legislation with politically charged provisions. The move raised the possibility that no new money would be available soon to fight the disease as Southern states brace for a summer outbreak. The stalemate, accompanied by a sharp war of words on the Senate floor, raised the prospect that the partisan divide in Congress was hindering the government’s ability to respond effectively to a pressing public health emergency. (Herszenhorn, 6/28)
McClatchy DC:
Why The Zika Filibuster Is A Major Setback For Wounded Veterans
Sen. Patty Murray felt compelled Tuesday to vote against one of her top priorities for veterans — a plan that she’s pursued for four years. Her decision to join a Democratic filibuster that blocked the Republican Zika-funding bill also dealt a setback to her plan to pay for in-vitro fertilization services for veterans whose fertility was damaged or destroyed while in the military. Murray, D-Wash., won a big vote in May, when the Senate agreed to require the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department to spend $88 million over the next two years to pay for the treatment. The House of Representatives followed suit last week. (Hotakainen, 6/28)
In other Zika news —
Los Angeles Times:
Two New Vaccines Can Protect Against Zika After A Single Shot
Just five months after the Zika virus was declared a global public health emergency, a scientific team’s feverish efforts to create a vaccine against the viral threat have borne promising fruit: With a single shot of either of two different types of vaccine, experimental mice gained near-total immunity to Zika for at least two months. Writing in the journal Nature on Tuesday, a U.S.-Brazilian team of scientists reported that two distinct vaccine candidates conferred powerful protection from Zika infection when each was delivered by intra-muscular injection to mice. (Healy, 6/28)
The New York Times:
Peril On Wings: 6 Of America’s Most Dangerous Mosquitoes
With the spread of the Zika virus, the threat posed by the tiny mosquito has been magnified into shark-size proportions. But among the more than 3,000 species of the insect worldwide, only two in the Americas are known carriers of the virus: the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) and the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus). The potential range of the two species in the United States helps explain where Zika could be a threat. (Rueb, 6/28)
The Washington Post:
Zika Infections Last Much Longer During Pregnancy, Monkey Study Shows
New research on monkeys found some good news that could have implications for humans: One infection with the Zika virus protects against future infections. But along with good news were some troubling findings. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Duke University found the virus persisted in the blood of pregnant monkeys for much longer — up to 70 days — compared to the 10 days it lasted in males and non-pregnant female monkeys. (Sun, 6/28)