Press Release 8/8/16

NEW BRUNSWICK – On Tuesday August 9 at 10:00 am, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ 06), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, will call for immediate funding to address the growing Zika crisis at the Middlesex County Mosquito Extermination Commission in Edison, NJ. Pallone has criticized House Republicans for failing to provide the $1.9 billion in funds requested by President Obama to respond to the Zika threat and playing politics with an urgent public health issue. Last month, House Republicans began one of the longest recesses in American history rather than address the crisis.

Meanwhile, the Zika virus is spreading explosively through the Americas and New Jersey. Nearly 2,000 Americans have contracted Zika in the United States with 80 of those cases now in New Jersey. Recently, the first cases of Zika being transmitted in the continental United States by mosquitos were reported in Florida. When Zika infects pregnant women, mother-to-child transmission can lead to miscarriage or certain birth defects, including microcephaly, in which a child is born with an abnormally small head and brain.

Pallone will also discuss how federal funds can help states and local government to better handle the Zika crisis.