At least one prominent Republican says the Obama administration doesn't need the $1.8 billion it has requested to address the Zika virus, reasoning that the government has leftover funds from its anti-Ebola efforts that it can redirect to Zika prevention programs.
"If the aim of the request is to mount as rapid a response as possible, it is clear to us that the most expeditious way to identify the needed funding is to maximize the use of unobligated funds previously provided for Ebola response, prevention, and preparedness," wrote Rep. Hal Rogers, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, in a letter to the administration. "These funds can and should be prioritized to meet the most pressing needs of mounting a rapid and full response to Zika."
The administration has not fired back, instead responding by saying that when it does submit its Zika plan in the next few days, it will also request new spending as well as the ability to dip into Ebola funds.
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The Ebola virus, which caused worldwide panic after an outbreak in western Africa a two years ago, is no longer a health priority. The World Health Organization announced last month that there hadn't been any reported cases in many of the countries most affected for months.
Even if $1.8 billion is pocket change in the context of the federal budget, Republicans have said that they want any new spending on Zika should be paid for by cuts elsewhere.
The response to Zika among health agencies has changed as the apparent severity of the outbreak in Latin America has increased. While officials at the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control were reluctant to spark panic, the CDC formally recommended last week that pregnant women who have traveled to countries most affected by the virus to get tested upon return to the U.S.
The agency also advised pregnant women to use contraception with male partners who have traveled to Zika-affected areas recently.
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