GOP leaders in Congress putting Americans at risk

Two months ago, we warned that the Zika virus was becoming a public-health crisis in the United States and the territories. The virus has now hit home – two cases have been reported in Mahoning County – and we’re more incensed than ever over the failure of the Republican majority in Congress to provide emergency funds to deal with the crisis.

It has been five months since the Obama administration asked federal legislators for $1.9 billion in funding to develop a vaccine, top-flight diagnostic tests and rapid-response teams for any Zika clusters that are detected.

But GOP leaders on Capitol Hill have reacted to President Barack Obama’s call for urgent action with inaction.

Indeed, in order to demonstrate its willingness to work with lawmakers on this important issue, the White House agreed to a demand by Republicans to rechannel $600 million in funding to fight against the Ebola virus to the anti-Zika campaign.

But even that didn’t trigger congressional action.

In fact, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin sent legislators home for the Independence Day holiday – just as they did in May for a 10-day break.

This, despite the fact, that more than 900 Zika cases have been reported in the U.S., and more than 2,000 in American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the American Virgin Islands.

In Ohio, 21 residents have tested positive; 20 of the individuals traveled to the tropics.

Therein lies the problem – and the need for the urgent action by Congress.

Next month, hundreds of Americans will be in Brazil for the Olympics and will be exposed to the mosquitoes that carry the virus.

While the Republican leadership in Congress may not view this as cause for concern, the fact remains that an increasing number of athletes are choosing not to participate. The reason: legitimate worries about the ability of Brazil, which is roiled by a failing economy, to adequately address the growing epidemic.

There isn’t enough money to get rid of the breeding grounds for the mosquitoes that carry the virus, and funding for public-health campaigns is inadequate.

Warnings

While there will be warnings for the thousands of visitors from around the world on how to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes and what medical precautions they should take, the fact remains that many will return home as carriers of the virus – and even the mosquitoes.

Here’s a fact that members of Congress who are back in Washington this week should bear in mind as they think about Zika: The World Health Organization has a paltry $7.9 million dedicated to fight the virus, which is spreading in 60 countries and blamed for more than 1,600 serious birth defects, mostly in Brazil.

According to Bloomberg News, the planet has never seen a mosquito-borne virus that causes microcephaly, resulting in babies born with small heads and brain damage.

In the Americas, Zika is rushing through populations that have never been exposed before and thus haven’t developed any natural immunity, Bloomberg reports.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are playing political games when political leadership is demanded.

The word “dysfunctional” is often used to describe Congress and the hyper-partisanship that has surrounded such important issues as Republicans’ refusal to confirm President Obama’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But the failure of the GOP leadership to approve emergency funding for Zika goes beyond dysfunction. It’s the height of irresponsibility.

It is to be hoped that members of Congress have returned to Washington with a sense of urgency to break the logjam that has put at risk the health of the nation.

Although there are no locally- acquired mosquito-borne cases reported in the U.S. – a vast majority are the result of travel abroad – mosquitoes are a fact of life.

As for Zika, the words of Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, should trigger action in Congress: “Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we thought.”