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The Obama administration will move more than half-a billion dollars of unspent government funds for use in the preparation against Zika virus, even before the disease carrying mosquitos make its way to the United States.
According to reports from USAtoday on Thursday, a total of $589 million will be taken out of the allocated fund rendered towards prevention of another deadly-disease, the Ebola virus.
White House budget director Shaun Donovan, however, said the re-allocation of funding was only a temporary fix.
Despite the shift in priorities, the White House made it clear that the U.S. government will still be capable of addressing both viruses on the event that they become epidemic in America.
“These efforts need to continue, and they can’t be stopped or short-changed,” said Health and Human Services Director Sylvia Burwell.
“We have two global public health crises, Ebola and Zika, and we can’t set one aside to deal with the other,” the health director added.
The Zika virus has been linked to a growing number of cases of the birth defect microcephaly in Brazil, and is rapidly spreading in Latin America and the Caribbean as the weather gets warmer. Khristian Ibarrola, INQUIRER.NET