Comparing the outbreak of the Zika virus to the 2014 Ebola outbreak, Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson is asking President Obama to appoint a "Zika Czar".
“One of the things we learned in trying to prevent the spread of that virus is that a highly-coordinated national response is crucial, and the way to manage such an effort is to have a point person in place to oversee the federal government’s response.”, Nelson said in a letter to the president.
Florida has nine reported cases of the Zika virus and Governor Rick Scott has declared a health emergency in four counties (Miami-Dade, Lee, Hillsborough, and Santa Rosa). No cases of the mosquito-borne virus have been reported on the First Coast.
Here is Nelson's letter to the president:
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
The ongoing Zika virus outbreak has been detected in at least 20 countries, including the United States, and the number of Zika cases reported here in the U.S. continues to grow daily.
There is no vaccine, no cure and the World Health Organization has recently declared the spread of the Zika virus an international public health emergency.
The last time we faced an international emergency such as this was in 2014 when the Ebola virus began spreading rapidly throughout West Africa. One of the things we learned in trying to prevent the spread of that disease is that a highly-coordinated national response is crucial, and the way to manage such an effort is to have a point person in place to oversee the federal government’s response.
To help curb the spread of this virus here at home, I strongly urge you to appoint a point person to coordinate the federal government’s comprehensive response.
The Zika virus is an emerging public health crisis. There’s been at least 20 cases of the Zika virus identified in Puerto Rico alone. And the State of Florida announced earlier today that it has declared a state of emergency in four counties where the virus has been found.
If Puerto Rico’s and Florida’s history in dealing with other mosquito-borne illnesses is any indication of the potential for viral spread, these numbers are likely to rise as we head into the summer months.
The federal government has the responsibility to respond to this emergency situation and as quickly as it can. And for these reasons, I urge you to quickly identify someone to spearhead a coordinated U.S. response plan and manage all of the communications between both federal and state agencies, as well as other non-governmental organizations, our international counterparts, and the various stakeholders that will all likely be involved.
Sincerely,
Bill Nelson
Bill Nelson
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