MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine asked for more federal resources Monday to combat the spread of the Zika virus in South Florida.
The mayor said “we need the federal government to step up” at a news conference Monday.
President Barack Obama requested $1.9 billion in emergency funds in February to develop a vaccine and control the mosquitoes that carry the virus. But Republicans tied the funding to a dispute over abortion, and lawmakers left Washington for a seven-week recess without approving the money.
The first cases of Zika transmitted by mosquito bites on the U.S. mainland have been found in South Beach and Winwood, two neighborhoods of Miami-Dade County.
