Forty U.S. states and territories will receive a total of more than $16 million for rapidly detecting the serious birth defect caused by the Zika virus.
The funds are intended to tide over states and territories until Congress provides emergency funding to fight Zika, which has now been found in more than 1,600 Americans and is spreading locally in Florida.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the awards Tuesday morning, saying they’re primarily to be used for establishing, enhancing and maintaining systems to quickly detect microcephaly, a condition in which infants are born with underdeveloped brains, and other adverse effects of the virus.
“It is critical to identify infants with birth defects related to Zika virus so we can support them and their families,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said. “This CDC funding provides real-time data about the Zika epidemic as it unfolds in the United States and territories and will help those most devastated by this virus.”
The CDC has issued a number of warnings about travel and sexual activity, hoping to restrict the spread of the Zika virus in the U.S. On Monday, the agency took the unprecedented step of warning Americans not to travel to a small community just north of Miami, where mosquitoes are circulating the virus.
The funding announced Tuesday also will help states and territories ensure that infants and their families are referred to appropriate health and social services agencies and enable them to monitor the health and developmental outcomes of children affected by Zika.
The CDC said the funds were provided based on states’ risk of Zika virus transmission, population need and the funds they already had. The money is in addition to $25 million the agency awarded in July. The agency says that out of $222 million it has repurposed to fight Zika, in the absence of additional funding from Congress, it has obligated more than half.
Congress left town last month for a seven-week recess without appropriating emergency funding to fight Zika, conflicted over how much to set aside and whether to include some additional, controversial rules about the funding pushed by Republicans.
