Clinton Latest To Urge Congress To Pass Zika Funding ‘Immediately’

Stat: Hillary Clinton Presses For Zika Funding, Takes Shot At Trump
Hillary Clinton added her voice Tuesday to the chorus calling for Congress to return to Washington as soon as possible to pass emergency funding to respond to the Zika virus. After a visit to a Miami-area health clinic, the Democratic presidential nominee said she “would very much urge the leadership of Congress to call people back for a special session and get a bill passed.” (Scott, 8/9)

Reuters: Clinton Urges Congress To Reconvene, Pass Zika Bill
"I am very disappointed that the Congress went on recess before actually agreeing what they would do to put the resources into this fight," Clinton said. "If we pass this critical funding we can develop rapid diagnostic testing and even begin the hard work of developing a vaccine." (8/9)

The Hill: Clinton Calls On Congress To Pass Zika Bill 'Immediately' 
In response to Clinton on Tuesday, Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called on Clinton's running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and other Democrats to stop blocking the Republican-backed Zika response bill. "We would love for Sen. Kaine and others to end that filibuster and pass the bill, but it doesn’t sound like they’re prepared to do that," Stewart said. "Apparently they believe an earmark for Planned Parenthood in the future is more important that preventing the threat of Zika now." (Sullivan, 8/9)

The Hill: Health Chief Warns Congress: Zika Funds Quickly Running Out
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell is warning that administration funds to fight the Zika virus are quickly running out.  In a letter to congressional Republicans sent Monday, Burwell points to a range of responses that will be impaired if Congress does not provide new funding. The letter comes as Democrats and Republicans point fingers at each other over who is to blame for the lack of Zika funding. (Sullivan, 8/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Pregnant Zika Victim Alerted Officials To Florida Outbreak
The woman who set off the Zika scare in Florida doesn’t have a clear connection to the neighborhood where the outbreak is believed to be concentrated. She hasn’t traveled to a country where Zika is circulating and she hasn’t had sex with anyone likely to be infected. These confounding facts are also laced with potential danger. The woman in her early 20s is pregnant. The woman is one of 21 cases health officials are grappling with in their efforts to understand and contain the first known mosquito-borne Zika outbreak in the continental U.S., according to an internal report on the investigation for health officials reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. (McKay and Evans, 8/10)

The Washington Post: Americans Are Still Not Worried About Zika, Poll Finds
Zika’s first mosquito-borne transmission in the United States has not sparked alarm for the vast majority of Americans, who do not fear infection by the disease, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Sixty-five percent of Americans say they are “not too” or “not at all" worried about being infected with Zika or about having an immediate family member become infected, which is hardly changed from 67 percent in June. Just over one-third of the public, 35 percent, is at least somewhat worried, though only 12 percent say they are “very worried” about infection. (Guskin and Clement, 8/9)

The New York Times: Zika Cases Rise In Miami, And Officials Try To Soothe Fears
As the number of locally acquired Zika cases in Miami climbed a notch on Tuesday, county officials held an emergency meeting to blunt concerns about an epidemic and to underscore that local infections remain well contained. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida said Tuesday that four more people had been identified as likely to have acquired the Zika virus from local mosquitoes in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, the only place in the continental United States with active transmission. That brings the number of locally acquired cases in Florida to 21. On Monday, officials announced a Zika case in West Palm Beach, and they are investigating how the person, who recently traveled to Miami, was infected. (Alvarez, 8/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Florida Reports Four New Zika Cases, Likely Contracted Locally
Florida health authorities have found four more people who likely contracted Zika through mosquito bites in the Miami neighborhood where an outbreak began, Gov. Rick Scott announced Tuesday.The new cases bring to 21 the total number of people in Florida who health authorities believe became infected without traveling to areas outside the U.S. where the virus is circulating. (Kamp, 8/9)

The New York Times: New York Health Dept. Expands Zika-Testing Guidelines
In an effort to detect any local transmission of the Zika virus, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said on Tuesday that it had expanded the guidelines on who should be tested for the disease to include anyone with its most-common symptoms. Previously officials said only those who had traveled to a Zika-affected region or their sexual partners should be tested. The move comes on the heels of the first confirmed cases of local transmission by mosquitoes in Florida — a number that continues to rise. (Santora, 8/9)

The Columbus Dispatch: Zika Concerns Bring Business To Central Ohio Pest-Control Firms 
As the number of cases of the Zika virus in the U.S. increases, so does the number of people calling local exterminators to rid their yards of the potentially dangerous mosquitoes. Although no mosquito-transferred cases of Zika have been found in Ohio, area businesses specializing in mosquito control have seen an uptick in business this summer.The phones have been ringing so much at one exterminator, Mosquito Squad in Dublin, that co-owner Leslie Wilson said she had to hire an answering service to field the influx of inquiring customers. (Husnick, 8/10)