Local Health Officials Watch Closely As Washington Debates Zika Funding

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CARROLLTON (CBS11)  - The threat of Zika virus continues to grow.

Monday, Frisco announced one of its residents had been diagnosed.

That patient got the virus while traveling outside the U.S.

Health officials fear an infected person will spread it to the local mosquito population.

Now lawmakers are trying to decide how much money is needed to fight the problem.

Denton County recently confirmed its second case of Zika virus in Carrollton.

That's why public health officials are monitoring closely the debate in Washington and the public awareness at home.

With so much talk about Zika in the news, some people like Lori Lynch worry about an overreaction to the threat of the virus.

"I think people are aware of it. I think they're just panicking about it instead of taking simple steps that they know they ought to take," Lynch said as she visited a Denton park.

But not everyone is as aware of the problem as public health officials might like them to be.

"We don't use bug spray, so I haven't even thought about it personally," Jennifer Burk said as she and her children left the local library.

Denton County Public Health Director Matt Richardson says education and public awareness are two of the areas where additional federal funding for Zika prevention could make a big difference.

"We are concerned about people's lack of attention to detail when it comes to bite prevention," Dr. Richardson said.

The White House has asked for $1.9 billion to fund efforts, but the proposal is getting resistance from some members of Congress in states at greatest risk, like Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas.

"If the cases increase, that means our response has got to change with additional traps, with additional staff members to work with cases, people doing those disease investigations. All of those things cost money," Richardson said.

But those reluctant to endorse the $1.9 billion proposal say they want to know more first about how the money will be spent.

"But the government has enough money and can't show us exactly where they're spending it all, so I don't really want to give them more to spend where we don't know where it's going," Lynch said.

So far we have not seen cases in the U.S. of the virus transmitted from mosquito bites, but if that changes, the public health director tells us local governments will have to be able to respond quickly, and that federal funding would be critical.

When asked to address the debate over funding Republican Texas Congressman Michael C. Burgess wrote in a statement:

"The best way to combat the Zika virus in the United States is by not traveling to areas where the virus is prevalent. If I was convinced the Administration was serious about tackling this problem, I may feel differently about the funding. In my opinion, serious means getting behind research and development in vector control; reducing barriers for the availability of diagnostic tests instead of throwing more obstacles in the way; and implementing travel restrictions to countries of Zika virus outbreaks. Until the Administration outlines a detailed plan and response to this public health crisis, I cannot support just throwing more taxpayer dollars at the situation."

On April 28, Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn said on the Senate floor:

"We all agree that this is a serious matter and it should be negotiated on a bipartisan basis, but we should at least have a plan from the Administration for how the money's going to be spent. There is no plan. It's a blank check."

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