As of last week, the CDC reported 1,305 cases of Zika in the United States, and one local cases of transmission between humans due to sexual contact. Scientists learned that Zika can cause devastating outcomes, including death, in infected children and adults—not just among fetuses. The first death caused by Zika was recorded in the United States earlier this month.
The World Health Organization declared Zika a global emergency back in early February, around the time the Obama Administration asked Congress for $1.9 billion in emergency money to combat the mosquito-borne virus. But the US House of Representative balked at that request, and many of them dismissed it as unnecessary.
The situation is getting grave as US enters the mosquito (summer) season. And to top it, Congress embarked on a seven-week recess last week, without resolving the question of whether to approve money to combat Zika.
Now we have a brewing crisis in our hand. I wonder when politicians will get out of the way, quit playing politics and think first about the people they represent.
