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“THE ZIKA PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS: THE URGENT NEED FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EMERGENCY FUNDING REQUEST” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E692-E693 on May 12, 2016.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE ZIKA PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS: THE URGENT NEED FOR THE PRESIDENT'S
EMERGENCY FUNDING REQUEST
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HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE
of texas
in the house of representatives
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the topic of the Zika Virus threat that is real and something that the Congress should address.
As a senior member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, which has a core mission of emergency preparedness of state and local governments to be equipped to react to emergencies make me acutely aware of the potential for the Zika Virus to be a real challenge for state and local governments in the coming months.
I thank President Obama for his leadership in requesting $1.9 billion to address the threat of the Zika Virus.
The Administration due to the threat posed by Zika has used funds allocated for Ebola, which will need to be replaced once Zika funding is available.
The region of the world impacted by Ebola is still seeing new victims and the funds allotted for Ebola are therefore still needed.
I like many of my colleagues with districts along the Gulf Coast am well aware of the presence of mosquitoes.
These areas are known to have both types of the Zika Virus vectors: the Aedes Aegypti and the Aedes Albopictus, which is why I held a meeting in Houston on March 10, 2016 about the evolving health threat.
I convened a meeting with Houston, Harris County and State officials at every level with responsibility for combating the Zika Virus to discuss preparations that would mitigate the spread of the mosquitoes that can carry the virus.
Houston, Texas, like many cities, towns, and parishes along the Gulf Coast, has a tropical climate like parts of Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. Tropical climates are hospitable to mosquitoes that carry the Zika Virus.
In addition, Houston has a large and very diverse population that travels to many of the Zika Virus impacted zones, located throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean where mosquito transmission of the Zika Virus is the primary means of exposure to the illness.
I have identified shared concerns among state and local agency officials regarding a need to have a plan to address the Zika Virus in the Houston and Harris County area that would include every aspect of the community.
Part of the Zika Virus response must be to ensure that we are doing all that we can and should be doing to reach every community.
CDC has a disease surveillance unit at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The participants in the March 10, 2016 meeting I hosted on the Zika Virus provided insight into each of the areas that local governments will have to address.
The participants in the March 10, 2016 meeting I held in Houston included:
Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine; Dr. Umair Shah, Executive Director for Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services; Dr. Dubboun, Director of the Harris County Public Health Environmental Services Mosquito Control Division; Dr. Gruber, Assistant Commissioner from Regional and Local Health Services for the State of Texas; Dr. Raouf Arafat, Houston Health and Human Services Office of Surveillance and Public Health Preparedness; Stephen Williams, Director of Houston Health Department; Dr. David Persse, Physician Director, Emergency Medical Services, Houston Public Health Authority; and Julie Graves, (Confirmed) MD, MPH, PhD, Regional Medical Director, Health Service Region 6/5S, Texas Department of State Health Services.
The collective wisdom of these experts revealed that we should not let the fear of the Zika Virus control public policy; but that we should get in front of the problem, then we can control the Zika Virus from its source--mosquitoes.
The fight against the Zika Virus will be neighborhood by neighborhood and will rely upon the resources and expertise of local government working closely with State governments with the support of federal government agencies.
The consensus of the experts is that the existence of the Zika Virus are through: health community communication with the public; correct vector control; surveillance; planning; keep yards clean, road ways, and lots free of any breeding environments for mosquitoes; and community engagement in the work that must be done is essential.
Poverty and the conditions that may exist in poor communities can be of greatest risk for the Zika Virus breeding habitats for vector mosquitoes.
Illegal dumping of tires; open ditches, torn screens, or no screens during the long hot days of summer will make for a perfect storm for the spread of the virus.
Mr. Speaker, I will remind my colleagues that eighty percent of those infected will not know they have the Zika Virus.
An uninfected mosquito biting this person can spread the virus when it bites other people.
The rate of spread of the disease by the Aedes Aegypti is problematic because the mosquito will bite many people to collect enough blood to lay eggs.
The Aedes Aegypti has evolved to rely exclusively on human blood, which means it adapted to fly low--close to the ground; seeks any opportunity to enter homes; can breed in as little as a cap of dirty water; is known to breed in fish aquariums; plant water catch dishes; or tires.
Blood is essential for breeding of the vector mosquitoes for the Zika Virus and the Aedes Aegypti is seeking an opportunity that keeps it near people.
Mr. Speaker, there is no need to be alarmed, but we should be preparing to do what we can to prevent and mitigate the Zika Virus in communities around the nation.
We know that 33 states have one or both of the vector mosquitoes.
It is anticipated that the Americas including the United States can expect 4 million Zika Virus cases in the next four months and to date there are over a million cases in Brazil.
The most serious outcome of the Zika Virus exposure is birth defects that can occur during pregnancy if the mother is exposed to the Zika Virus.
The virus is believed to invade the central nervous system of the developing baby and inhibit brain development, which can result in: still births; microcephaly; the rate for the Zika Virus exposure far exceeds that number.
Microcephaly is brain underdevelopment either at birth or the brain failing to develop properly after birth, which can cause: difficulty walking; difficulty hearing; and difficulty with speech.
There are no tests to detect the virus and there is no vaccine or cure.
If we do not act--the public reaction to Ebola will seem tame compared to how the public might react to the arrival of mosquitoes transmitting the Zika Virus.
I call on my colleagues to pass the President's request for the $1.9 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations.
If you are not sure whether the Zika Virus is a potential problem in your districts, I challenge you to hold a meeting like the one I held in Houston on March 10, to become informed.
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