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White House Redirects $589M In Funds To Fight Zika Virus (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The White House said on Wednesday it will redirect $589 million in funds to prepare for the Zika virus before the mosquito that carries it begins to emerge in the continental United States, but urged Congress to act quickly on its request for more money. Most of the $589 million will come from $2.7 billion in funds set aside for public health projects aimed at the Ebola virus. White House budget director Shaun Donovan said the use of money previously provided for fighting another health crisis, the Ebola virus, was only a temporary fix for Zika funding. Donovan said some measures to fight Zika would have to be delayed, curtailed or stopped unless the U.S. Congress approves more than $1.8 billion in emergency funds requested by the Obama administration in February. The Zika virus, linked to a growing number of cases of the birth defect microcephaly in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean and heading north as the weather gets warmer.
Except Ebola hasn't gone extinct. There are still new cases reported and it could break into an epidemic at any time.
Foolish Republicans won't fund both Zika and Ebola research... it's their crusade against government spending (and the poor).
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Some facts:
Zika has been spreading through Africa for at least 60 years now without serious consequences being observed. The typical clinical course of Zika fever is harmless. A correlation between it and microcephaly has not yet been demonstrated. The reported number of cases (Zika with microcephaly) by the Brazilian researchers who started the discussion is, contrary to the impression created in parts of the media, around 20. Microcephaly is definitely caused by infection with other viruses (e.g., rubella), alcohol abuse, and other factors in effect during pregnancy.
The reaction:
A warning about a possible risk posed by Zika during pregnency makes sense, but only in proportion to other risks. The context-free representation in some media ("OMG, new killer virus cripples masses of Babies") is probably not helpful.
My interpretation:
Zika is used as an argument for releasing genetically modified mosquitoes in Brasil as a counter measure. The risk of this measure could be more unpredictable or greater than the risk of the virus itself. Also, huge amounts of money are about to be moved as seen here. Therefore, I wonder if perhaps other motivations are involved. Moreover, parts of the political class of Brazil are currently grateful for any type of distraction: the government has proven to be corrupt and is about to be replaced by an opposition which is even more corrupt. So it's probably a good thing to keep the public occupied with other things.