As Congress stalls funding, White House will move Ebola funds to Zika

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will move $510 million in unspent money dedicated to battling last year's global public health crisis — the Ebola virus — toward this year's global public health crisis: the Zika virus.

But the White House also made clear that the United States needs to be able to address both Ebola and Zika, and called on Congress to act immediately on its $1.9 billion request to battle Zika.

"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."

There have been 312 travel-related cases of Zika in the continental United States as of March 30, according to the Centers for Disease Control. None have been confirmed to involve the spread of Zika to someone who has not traveled outside the United States. But there have been another 352 cases in the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa, where the disease is spreading by local mosquitoes.

Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom on Tuesday declared that "an international outbreak of the Zika virus is sustained, severe, and is spreading internationally, and that it is in the national interest to respond to the related public health emergency of international concern." Under a spending bill already passed by Congress, that language allows the administration to move money previously devoted to Ebola.

The White House did not immediately disclose to Congress how it would use the money. The administration has previously requested funding for mosquito control, diagnostic tests, lab capacity and vaccine research and development.

The administration also would not say which specific Ebola-related activities it would have to put on hold.

"I will note that this is not all of the available Ebola money. We cannot take our eye off the ball when it comes to Ebola," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. "A lot of our Ebola funding and our efforts to fight Ebola were actually focused on improving public health infrastructures."

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers said he was pleased that the administration had found existing funds to battle Zika, put promised oversight "to ensure the best and most effective use of these funds."

he administration said it has already moved $79 million in unspecified other funds to battle Zika. But the total of $589 million in existing funding still falls far short of the $1.9 billion in emergency funding the White House had requested in February.

"I want to be very clear that our $1.9 billion request remains our $1.9 billion request," Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan said. He said the administration will need to replenish the money borrowed from the Ebola fight.

The White House had previously resisted moving Ebola funds, warning that Ebola had been thought to be contained before — only to re-emerge.

Republicans in Congress, however, have insisted that the administration use money already at its disposal before asking Congress for more.

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., applauded the White House's decision to do that. Zika, he said, "represents a growing health threat to Florida and the country so I’m hopeful this targeted funding will help stop its spread.”