Zika funding needed here, senator and governor say

Gov. David Ige joined U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono on Monday in urging the release of emergency federal funding that could bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hawaii to prevent a major Zika virus outbreak.

“We really need to let the public know this is not something we should be sticking our heads in the sand over,” Hirono, D-Hawaii, said at a news conference at Hawaii Biotech in Honolulu.

Hirono said Republican members of Congress have blocked President Barack Obama’s $1.9 billion emergency funding request for nearly three months.

The funding was expected to pay for education and outreach programs, improve the health care industry’s response to Zika, bolster vector control programs and support the work of companies like Hawaii Biotech, which is working to produce a Zika vaccine.

Ige and others said the issue is especially important to Hawaii because of how vulnerable the state is. The Hawaii island dengue outbreak that saw 264 cases of the mosquito-borne virus over a seven-month period beginning in September is a wake-up call, they said.

What’s more, Hawaii has experienced nine recent confirmed cases of imported Zika — four last year and five this year — and one case of an infant born with microcephaly, a serious birth defect directly linked to Zika.

Hirono said states like Hawaii and Florida, with their climates, need to keep an eye on the worldwide Zika outbreak as the summer months approach and there were will be extra travelers.

“It’s important for us to be proactive in fighting mosquito-borne disease,” Ige said.

Hirono and Ige were joined Monday by state Health Director Dr. Virginia Pressler and Vern Miyagi, administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. The governor and the senator also toured the Hawaii Biotech’s Young Street laboratories.

“We strongly support Sen. Hirono’s call for the federal government’s leadership in the battle against the Zika virus,” said Dr. Elliot Parks, CEO of Hawaii Biotech.

Parks said the company is expected to begin clinical tests on its vaccine at the beginning of 2017 and is hoping to bring it to market in a couple of years or more.

Hirono said congressional Republicans blocking the funds likely don’t understand the gravity of the crisis.

According to news reports, Republicans maintain that the Zika crisis can be handled for now through the redirection of previously appropriated funds and then addressed during the new funding cycle in the fall.

The White House has already redirected $589 million in funds to Zika, most of it from successful Ebola response programs, according to news reports. But administration officials say they need the full allocation to both fight Zika and maintain vigilance against Ebola.

Pressler said it’s critical that Congress underwrite the Zika fight.

“We are at risk every day,” Pressler said. “We do not have any locally acquired Zika in Hawaii, and we want to keep it that way. It really is a frightening disease. Congress really needs to take this seriously and put some money behind protecting the United States from Zika.”

Pregnant women are considered to be at highest risk from the virus, which can cause disastrous birth defects.

Puerto Rico has also been hit hard. The island territory has seen more than 700 Zika cases, with more than 70 of those involving pregnant women, according to news reports.

A 70-year-old Puerto Rico man infected with the mosquito-borne virus died in February, officials said last week.