House Passes $622M For Zika Funding, But CDC Says ‘It’s Just Not Enough’
On Tuesday the Senate passed its own $1.1 billion bill, and the two chambers are now facing tough negotiations in an effort to find a compromise. Meanwhile, the man who led the White House response to Ebola says Congress has failed to learn its lesson and is now failing Americans in the face of a slow-motion public-health disaster.
The Associated Press:
House Passes $622 Million Bill To Fight Zika
House Republicans on Wednesday pushed through a $622 million bill to battle the Zika virus, setting up challenging negotiations with the Senate and the White House. The 241-184 House vote broke mostly along party lines as Democrats lined up in opposition, heeding a White House veto threat and a warning from a top government health official that the bill wouldn’t do enough to respond to the growing threat from Zika. “It’s just not enough,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden said of the House measure. (5/19)
Politico:
Ebola Czar: America Failing On Zika
The man who led the successful White House response to the Ebola outbreak says the Zika virus is a slow-motion public health disaster — and Congress is to blame. Ron Klain, who served as White House Ebola czar and as Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff, told POLITICO's “Pulse Check” podcast that Congress has failed to heed the lessons of the Ebola epidemic and that the Zika funding battle has become unforgivably partisan in the face of such dire human costs, including severe brain defects in infants. “The babies being born are neither Democrats or Republicans,” he said. “They're babies.” (Diamond, 5/18)
The Press-Enterprise:
West Nile Virus Found In Mosquitoes In Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Chino
Mosquitoes found in Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario and Chino have tested positive for West Nile virus for the first time this year — and about a month earlier than usual, mosquito control officials said Wednesday. Five southern house mosquitoes found in those San Bernardino County cities were confirmed to have the disease Monday. (Hurt, 5/19)