[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 75 (Thursday, May 12, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E692-E693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE ZIKA PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS: THE URGENT NEED FOR THE PRESIDENT'S 
                       EMERGENCY FUNDING REQUEST

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 2016

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the topic of the 
Zika Virus threat that is real and something that the Congress should 
address.
  As a senior member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, which 
has a core mission of emergency preparedness of state and local 
governments to be equipped to react to emergencies make me acutely 
aware of the potential for the Zika Virus to be a real challenge for 
state and local governments in the coming months.
  I thank President Obama for his leadership in requesting $1.9 billion 
to address the threat of the Zika Virus.
  The Administration due to the threat posed by Zika has used funds 
allocated for Ebola, which will need to be replaced once Zika funding 
is available.
  The region of the world impacted by Ebola is still seeing new victims 
and the funds allotted for Ebola are therefore still needed.
  I like many of my colleagues with districts along the Gulf Coast am 
well aware of the presence of mosquitoes.
  These areas are known to have both types of the Zika Virus vectors: 
the Aedes Aegypti and the Aedes Albopictus, which is why I held a 
meeting in Houston on March 10, 2016 about the evolving health threat.
  I convened a meeting with Houston, Harris County and State officials 
at every level with responsibility for combating the Zika Virus to 
discuss preparations that would mitigate the spread of the mosquitoes 
that can carry the virus.
  Houston, Texas, like many cities, towns, and parishes along the Gulf 
Coast, has a tropical climate like parts of Central and South America, 
as well as the Caribbean. Tropical climates are hospitable to 
mosquitoes that carry the Zika Virus.
  In addition, Houston has a large and very diverse population that 
travels to many of the Zika Virus impacted zones, located throughout 
Central and South America and the Caribbean where mosquito transmission 
of the Zika Virus is the primary means of exposure to the illness.
  I have identified shared concerns among state and local agency 
officials regarding a need to have a plan to address the Zika Virus in 
the Houston and Harris County area that would include every aspect of 
the community.
  Part of the Zika Virus response must be to ensure that we are doing 
all that we can and should be doing to reach every community.
  CDC has a disease surveillance unit at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
  The participants in the March 10, 2016 meeting I hosted on the Zika 
Virus provided insight into each of the areas that local governments 
will have to address.
  The participants in the March 10, 2016 meeting I held in Houston 
included:
  Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and 
Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor 
College of Medicine; Dr. Umair Shah, Executive Director for Harris 
County Public Health & Environmental Services; Dr. Dubboun, Director of 
the Harris County Public Health Environmental Services Mosquito Control 
Division; Dr. Gruber, Assistant Commissioner from Regional and Local 
Health Services for the State of Texas; Dr. Raouf Arafat, Houston 
Health and Human Services Office of Surveillance and Public Health 
Preparedness; Stephen Williams, Director of Houston Health Department; 
Dr. David Persse, Physician Director, Emergency Medical Services, 
Houston Public Health Authority; and Julie Graves, (Confirmed) MD, MPH, 
PhD, Regional Medical Director, Health Service Region 6/5S, Texas 
Department of State Health Services.
  The collective wisdom of these experts revealed that we should not 
let the fear of the Zika Virus control public policy; but that we 
should get in front of the problem, then we can control the Zika Virus 
from its source--mosquitoes.
  The fight against the Zika Virus will be neighborhood by neighborhood 
and will rely upon the resources and expertise of local government 
working closely with State governments with the support of federal 
government agencies.
  The consensus of the experts is that the existence of the Zika Virus 
are through: health community communication with the public; correct 
vector control; surveillance; planning; keep yards clean, road ways, 
and lots free of any breeding environments for mosquitoes; and 
community engagement in the work that must be done is essential.
  Poverty and the conditions that may exist in poor communities can be 
of greatest risk for the Zika Virus breeding habitats for vector 
mosquitoes.
  Illegal dumping of tires; open ditches, torn screens, or no screens 
during the long hot days of summer will make for a perfect storm for 
the spread of the virus.
  Mr. Speaker, I will remind my colleagues that eighty percent of those 
infected will not know they have the Zika Virus.
  An uninfected mosquito biting this person can spread the virus when 
it bites other people.
  The rate of spread of the disease by the Aedes Aegypti is problematic 
because the mosquito will bite many people to collect enough blood to 
lay eggs.
  The Aedes Aegypti has evolved to rely exclusively on human blood, 
which means it adapted to fly low--close to the ground; seeks any 
opportunity to enter homes; can breed in as little as a cap of dirty 
water; is known to breed in fish aquariums; plant water catch dishes; 
or tires.

[[Page E693]]

  Blood is essential for breeding of the vector mosquitoes for the Zika 
Virus and the Aedes Aegypti is seeking an opportunity that keeps it 
near people.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no need to be alarmed, but we should be 
preparing to do what we can to prevent and mitigate the Zika Virus in 
communities around the nation.
  We know that 33 states have one or both of the vector mosquitoes.
  It is anticipated that the Americas including the United States can 
expect 4 million Zika Virus cases in the next four months and to date 
there are over a million cases in Brazil.
  The most serious outcome of the Zika Virus exposure is birth defects 
that can occur during pregnancy if the mother is exposed to the Zika 
Virus.
  The virus is believed to invade the central nervous system of the 
developing baby and inhibit brain development, which can result in: 
still births; microcephaly; the rate for the Zika Virus exposure far 
exceeds that number.
  Microcephaly is brain underdevelopment either at birth or the brain 
failing to develop properly after birth, which can cause: difficulty 
walking; difficulty hearing; and difficulty with speech.
  There are no tests to detect the virus and there is no vaccine or 
cure.
  If we do not act--the public reaction to Ebola will seem tame 
compared to how the public might react to the arrival of mosquitoes 
transmitting the Zika Virus.
  I call on my colleagues to pass the President's request for the $1.9 
billion in emergency supplemental appropriations.
  If you are not sure whether the Zika Virus is a potential problem in 
your districts, I challenge you to hold a meeting like the one I held 
in Houston on March 10, to become informed.

                          ____________________