HARTFORD – Today, after the Connecticut Department of Public Health and Safety confirmed that a pregnant Connecticut resident contracted the Zika virus while traveling in Central America, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called on Congress to immediately fund President Obama’s $1.9 billion emergency supplemental request to combat the outbreak of Zika.  

“This latest news is a jarring reminder of just how much is at stake in the global effort against the Zika epidemic. This is a disease that can have serious and deadly results – especially for pregnant women – and it requires a serious, science-based response from government. Despite broad agreement that we’ve got to act now, Republicans continue to this block critical funding in Congress,” said Murphy. “Zika will not stay on other continents; it’s coming to our shores. I wish this patient the absolute best and trust she is getting the treatment she needs and deserves.”

Murphy has supported numerous initiatives to combat the outbreak of Zika in Connecticut and across the United States, and has continuously called for $1.9 billion of emergency funding to address the outbreak. A bill cosponsored by Murphy – called the Adding Zika Virus to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act – was recently signed into law and will add Zika as an eligible disease to receive a priority review voucher from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), incentivizing the development of new Zika vaccines. 

Forty-two states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories have reported travel-related cases of Zika. There have been no locally acquired reported cases in the continental United States. For further information regarding the Zika virus, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.