Zika preparations complicated by money in limbo

WASHINGTON — Beg, borrow and steal: Zika preparation involves a bit of all three as federal, state and local health officials try to get a jump on the mosquito-borne virus while Congress haggles over how much money they really need.

With that financing in limbo, health officials are shifting resources and setting priorities — and not just in states where mosquitoes are starting to buzz. All but six states have seen travel-associated cases of Zika.

“Stealing money from myself” is how Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health describes raiding his agency’s malaria, tuberculosis and influenza programs to fund a Zika vaccine.

He needs more cash by the end of June to keep the vaccine on schedule. And there’s no guarantee those other critical diseases will recoup about $20 million.

“If we don’t get something soon, then we’re going to have a real problem,” Fauci said.

Adding to the stress: What if another health emergency comes along at the same time?

“It’s Zika now, but three months from now, who knows what it might be?” said Dr. Tim Jones, state epidemiologist in Tennessee, where few counties have mosquito eradication efforts.

Yet with funding pleas unanswered, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifted $44 million to Zika from emergency preparedness grants that help state and local health departments with crises from flu outbreaks to hurricanes.

“You have to be careful when you take cuts from core infrastructure for the disease of the day,” Jones said. “That’s a risky way to do things.”

Zika can cause birth defects and fetal death if pregnant women become infected. Mosquitoes aren’t yet spreading Zika in the continental U.S., but the epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean has experts predicting small outbreaks here as mosquito season heats up. The more than 540 U.S. cases diagnosed involve travel to outbreak areas or sex with infected travelers. The CDC is tracking the outcomes of 157 Zika-infected pregnant women in the U.S., plus another 122 in U.S. territories.

Three months ago, President Barack Obama requested $1.9 billion in emergency funding to fend off Zika. The House and Senate are arguing over how much to grant — and whether the money should come from cuts to other programs — with no final agreement in sight.