CDC Distributing Zika Preparedness Funds
"Although the continental United States has not yet seen local transmission of the Zika virus, mosquito season is here and states must continue to both work to prevent transmission and prepare for their first local case," said Dr. Stephen C. Redd, director of CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is giving Texas $1.5 million to prepare for Zika virus cases, saying the funds are in addition to annual "all hazards" emergency preparedness funds and are part of $25 million in funding to states, cities, and territories to support preparedness for Zika infections and associated adverse health outcomes, including microcephaly and the other serious birth defects.
"These CDC funds will enable states and territories to strengthen their Zika preparedness and response plans," said Dr. Stephen C. Redd, director of CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response. "Although the continental United States has not yet seen local transmission of the Zika virus, mosquito season is here and states must continue to both work to prevent transmission and prepare for their first local case."
The $25 million in FY 2016 preparedness and response funding became effective July 1 and can be used through June 2017. All jurisdictions will have the funds this week, according to the announcement, which said the selection of funding recipients was based on the risk of local transmission as determined by the estimated range of the two Aedes mosquito species known to transmit Zika virus in the U.S.; history of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks; and population size.
As of June 29, 2016, data collected by CDC's Arboviral Disease Branch showed zero locally acquired Zika cases reported in U.S. states, but there were 934 travel-associated cases reported in the states by that date and one laboratory-acquired case, along with 13 sexually transmitted cases. There were 2,020 total locally acquired cases in U.S. territories as of that date and six travel-associated cases.