The Zika Crisis

Near the conclusion of the 1995 movie The American President, United States President Andrew Shepherd delivers a speech about the responsibilities of being in higher elected office. “We've got serious problems, and we need serious people,” he emphatically proclaims during his powerful monologue.

He was not discussing the sudden fad of young adults scampering around looking for Pokémon Go characters, but it wouldn’t surprise us if some members of Congress are busier playing the virtual reality game than they were at dealing with national health and safety issues.

Sadly, the do-nothing congress in Washington, D.C. went on hiatus this past week without addressing a number of serious problems facing our nation, including the invasive Zika virus. The failure of Congress to approve any money to help fight Zika is simply inexcusable when a real health threat is staring us right in the collective face.

Public health officials have been begging Congress for months now to approve funding so the nation can prepare for, study and fight Zika, which is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. These mosquitoes are aggressive daytime biters, but can also bite at night.

Zika is spreading rapidly across Latin America and the Caribbean. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says more than 1,100 travelers have shown up infected in the continental U.S., including close to 400 pregnant women. There is currently no vaccine or medicine for Zika, which can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus. Infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects; the most obvious and horrifying birth defect known to be caused by Zika infection is microcephaly. The child's head is smaller than normal because the brain itself is badly damaged.

Adding to the concern is the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Brazil. While the CDC  recently claimed tourists traveling between the U.S. and Brazil should not accelerate the spread of the Zika virus around the world, this is not an entirely reassuring position. A number of world-class athletes, including Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, gymnast Carly Patterson, golfers Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, and cyclist Tejay van Garderen, have expressed concern about competing in the Olympic Games due to health issues, which includes both the Zika virus and questionable water quality for swimming and boating events.

Given that these athletes are in far better condition and health than the vast majority of Americans - and thus theoretically better able to fend off infections of any sort - their refusal to subject themselves to the risks of contracting such a powerful virus should be a warning to everyone, especially our elected officials, this is a concern of utmost importance.

Instead, Congress shut down for the next few months, leaving the entire Zika situation hanging.

Another president, this time the very-real Harry S Truman, once proclaimed, “The buck stops here.” Sadly, our current Commander-in-Chief can’t claim this to be the case when it comes to our national health, because the much-needed legislation to make this happen never got to his desk. Let’s hope there’s a better answer before the Pokémon Go craze dies down.