WASHINGTON — Top health officials say the more they learn about Zika, the scarier the virus appears and they still need more money to fight the mosquitoes that spread it — and for research into vaccines and treatments.
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health says he's "not an alarmist," but he cites recent discoveries about how destructive Zika appears to be to fetal brains. There also are reports of rare neurologic problems in adults, too.
The Obama administration is using some leftover money from the Ebola fight to pay for Zika research but that's just a fraction of the $1.9 billion it sought from Congress.
Fauci says the $589 million now available is a "temporary stopgap" and it's "not enough for us to get the job done."