Increasing Concerns Among American Officials About Zika Virus

As more research is conducted on Zika, researchers' fears about this dangerous virus are increasing. According to the Associated Press, U.S. health and public health officials have requested additional funding from the government for the development of a preventive vaccine and for finding a treatment method. Although the relationship between Zika and microcephaly, a condition where infants are born with small heads and underdeveloped brains, has not yet been definitively established, scientists are getting closer to proving this connection every day. The Zika virus has become a public health epidemic in South America. All indications suggest that pregnant women contracting the Zika virus lead to the birth of infants with microcephaly. Dr. Anne Schuchat from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states, 'The more we learn about Zika, the scarier it becomes for us.' Despite the lack of widespread signs of this disease in the U.S., Dr. Schuchat believes Americans should be 'fully prepared.' President Barack Obama has requested $1.9 billion in emergency funding from Congress to combat the Zika virus and prepare the country for its outbreak. However, Congress, which is controlled by Republicans, has opposed this request. Last week, the Obama administration announced that it would allocate nearly $600 million remaining from the Ebola response budget to fight Zika. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci from the National Institutes of Health believes this amount is insufficient for the task. The institute hopes to develop a Zika vaccine by this fall. For a long time, Zika was known only as an annoying virus causing symptoms like fever and nausea in individuals. However, since the outbreak of this disease last year, initially in Brazil and then in other South American countries, the number of infants born with microcephaly has sharply increased. Researchers also believe that Zika can cause fetal death, spontaneous abortion, and eye diseases for mothers during pregnancy. Brazilian researchers have found that the Zika virus targets the developing brain cells of the fetus. However, Zika can also, in some cases, cause paralysis of certain brain cells in adults, leading to neurological disorders.