Friday, May 06, 2016

This article is about Hawaii's request for funding, but, the number of Zika cases in Florida is growing.

Wasn't there some discussion of accelerating the research for a vaccine. But, there is an alternate strategy for Hawaii. The people of Hawaii won't like it. It's island. It is an island rather distant from any other island or mainland.

Hawaii should ask the CDC how to establish any migration of the virus to Hawaii including any merchandise that might carry the mosquito. Think Mediterranean Fruit Fly.

Hawaii has a far better chance to isolate any potential infections primarily because the virus is not likely to be blown in by wind. The over Hawaii is mostly from west to east.


May 3, 2016
By Timothy Hurley 

(TNS) - Gov. David Ige joined U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (click here) on Monday in urging the release of emergency federal funding that could bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hawaii to prevent a major Zika virus outbreak.

“We really need to let the public know this is not something we should be sticking our heads in the sand over,” Hirono, D-Hawaii, said at a news conference at Hawaii Biotech in Honolulu.

Hirono said Republican members of Congress have blocked President Barack Obama’s $1.9 billion emergency funding request for nearly three months.

The funding was expected to pay for education and outreach programs, improve the health care industry’s response to Zika, bolster vector control programs and support the work of companies like Hawaii Biotech, which is working to produce a Zika vaccine.

Ige and others said the issue is especially important to Hawaii because of how vulnerable the state is. The Hawaii island dengue outbreak that saw 264 cases of the mosquito-borne virus over a seven-month period beginning in September is a wake-up call, they said....