CDC Awards $16M in Fight Against Zika

Zika Virus - Health Council

“Health officials are urging pregnant women to avoid a Miami neighborhood where mosquitoes are apparently infecting people with the Zika virus.The number of local transmissions of the virus has apparently increased to 14, Gov. Rick Scott said Monday. While infection with the Zika virus is harmless to most people, it can cause terrible birth defects — particularly microcephaly, which results in babies born with small heads and underdeveloped brains.”

“In response to the news out of Miami, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday it was sending an eight-person team to assist local officials. On Tuesday, the CDC said it had awarded more than $16 million to 40 states and territories to create “information-gathering systems” to quickly detect microcephaly. This money is a “stopgap diverted from other public health resources until Zika funds are provided by Congress,” the agency said in a news release.”

Read the full article: CDC Awards $16M in Fight Against Zika