U.S. to shift $589M from Ebola to Zika fight

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday that Republicans would regret stalling President Barack Obama’s request for funds to combat the Zika virus. “At some point, they’re going to have to choose whether or not their animosity toward President Obama trumps their desire to try to protect pregnant women in their states from this terrible disease,” Earnest said.

WASHINGTON -- Federal money left over from the largely successful fight against Ebola will now go to fight the growing threat of the Zika virus, President Barack Obama's administration announced Wednesday.

Most of the $589 million would be devoted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for research on the virus and Zika-related birth defects, as well as the creation of response teams to limit its spread. The National Institutes of Health would continue research into a vaccine, and the U.S. Agency for International Development would intensify efforts to fight the virus overseas.

Researchers fear that Zika causes microcephaly, a serious birth defect in which a baby's head is too small, as well as posing other threats to the children of pregnant women infected with it.

Obama has asked for about $1.9 billion in emergency money to fight Zika, but the request has stalled in the GOP-controlled Congress. White House budget chief Shaun Donovan and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said on a conference call with reporters that the administration still needs the full request, both to fight Zika and to maintain vigilance on Ebola.

They said agencies would not be able to achieve a complete response to Zika without additional funding. For instance, additional money must be approved to manufacture vaccines, purchase diagnostic tests, and undertake mosquito control throughout the rainy season in Central America and the Caribbean, among other activities.

"We cannot wait for this supplemental. We cannot wait for the fall," Donovan said. "There are real consequences and risks for waiting."

While the administration has acknowledged that substantial Ebola funding is left over, it has already committed much of it to helping at least 30 other countries prevent, detect and respond to future outbreaks and epidemics. It also wants to preserve money to keep fighting Ebola should it flare up again.

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