Congressional Delegation To Get Zika Update

June 12, 2016

Florida’s congressional delegation will hold a meeting this week in Washington to receive presentations about the Zika virus.

Panelists are expected to include Tom Frieden, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Democrat Alcee Hastings and Republican Vern Buchanan, who are co-chairmen of the delegation, announced Wednesday that the meeting will be held June 15.  The meeting comes as Congress remains deadlocked on funding to address the mosquito-borne virus, which emerged last year in South America and is particularly dangerous to pregnant women.

As of Tuesday, Florida had totaled 133 Zika cases that didn’t involve pregnant women, including one in Escambia County.

Also the state has monitored 38 cases in which pregnant women showed symptoms of Zika or met a definition of having the virus, according to the Florida Department of Health website. All of the Florida cases were contracted by people who traveled elsewhere, but state health officials worry that the disease could spread in Florida as mosquitoes thrive in the warmer summer months.

by The News Service of Florida

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News