We cannot afford to wait in fight against Zika

By U.S. Sen. Angus King

In Maine, we’ve been battling insect and tick-borne diseases like Lyme for decades. And that ‎experience has taught us the importance of giving communities the tools they need to help protect Maine families. So with the threat of Zika, an insect-borne disease, looming on the horizon, we also need to take immediate steps to prevent its spread.

The Zika virus is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) has linked to serious health conditions, including birth defects such as microcephaly as well as neurological disorders. The CDC recently announced that more than 1,700 cases of Zika have been reported in the U.S. and its territories. But despite this very real threat, our country remains woefully underprepared to prevent the spread of this virus.

This inaction is unacceptable, and threatens the health of families across the country, which is why I’m leading a bipartisan group of my colleagues on a bill to support states and localities in order to meet the Zika fight head on. Our bill, the Strengthening Mosquito Abatement for Safety and Health (SMASH) Act, would reauthorize critical public health tools in order to support local and state mosquito surveillance and control efforts. The bill would authorize $130 million for mosquito control, and provide the first-ever comprehensive survey of the resources we have to fight mosquito-borne diseases.

I introduced the SMASH Act with Senators Bill Nelson (D-Florida) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) last month, and it’s quickly gaining steam. The bipartisan list of cosponsors has grown, and we recently received support from the Infectious Diseases Society of America – a group that represents more than 10,000 infectious diseases experts and physicians across the country. The broad support for our bill on both sides of the aisle proves that this is an issue that transcends partisanship.

But despite this agreement, Congress has been unable to come together to break through the logjam and pass a comprehensive funding bill to address the Zika threat. Both the House and Senate have passed appropriations bills that would do just that, but unfortunately, we’re stuck in limbo over how to tackle the differences in those bills and send the President something he can sign into law. This is a shame, and hopefully it’s a roadblock that we can overcome together.

If there’s good news in the fight against Zika, it’s that Maine recently received some funding to combat the spread of the virus. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will receive $176,049 in federal funding, and according to the CDC, Maine can use this funding to identify and investigate possible outbreaks of the virus, coordinate a comprehensive response, identify and connect families affected by Zika to community services, and purchase supplies for Zika Prevention Kits. This certainly isn’t a cure-all, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Zika presents a serious threat to the health and safety of American communities, and it’s time for Congress to get serious about funding efforts to prevent the virus from spreading. I hope that means we can move forward the SMASH Act and give state and local officials the resources they need to support mosquito control efforts. By doing so, we can help protect families in Maine and across the country.