Florida’s Republican governor wants President Obama to boost mosquito prevention in his state to fight the Zika virus, saying he can’t “waste any time” waiting for Congress to approve funding.
Gov. Rick Scott told Obama in a letter Wednesday that the state needs resources such as insecticides to kill mosquitoes. The Zika virus is primarily spread by bites from two types of mosquito and so far is not spreading via mosquitoes in the continental U.S.
Scott asked for approval for mosquito-spraying equipment and to boost mosquito-control technicians and laboratories.
He also took aim at Congress, which is in recess this week, for not agreeing on funding for Zika. The House recently passed $622 million offset from other programs and the Senate approved $1.1 billion in new funding, but the two chambers have yet to reach an agreement.
“The fact that Congress has not taken immediate action to protect our nation from Zika before hurricane season began and we have entered the heart of summer heat, heavy rainfall and a growing mosquito population, is profoundly disappointing,” Scott said.
He added that he cannot “waste any time on disappointment. Florida needs action from the federal government now.”
The administration announced earlier this year it will use more than $500 million in Ebola funding to fight Zika. It asked for $1.9 billion in February to fight Zika, but Congress has been reticent to approve that request.
Florida’s hot climate and rampant mosquito population makes it ripe for Zika, as a recent study pegged several cities in the state including Miami as vulnerable to an outbreak.
While Zika normally causes at most a mild illness in most people, it has been found to cause the birth defect microcephaly and has been linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder.
