Fauci: Zika vaccine efforts may be halted without Congressional funding

The development of a vaccine to fight Zika could be halted in the coming months if Congress fails to provide funding for the effort, health officials said Wednesday.

“If we don’t get the money, it’s not question of speed or not, it’s a question of whether the vaccine effort will be blunted or completely aborted,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health.

The comments came a day after the Senate blocked a $1.1 billion bill to combat Zika, a mosquito-borne illness that can cause devastating birth defects. The move gives Congress just two weeks to try to reach a new deal before lawmakers leave for a seven-week recess in the midst of mosquito season and a growing public health crisis.

Bill to provide $1.1 billion Zika funding dies in Senate vote

In April, the White House transferred more than $500 million leftover from the battle against the Ebola virus to the Zika fight. Those funds are now dwindling, just as the agency begins testing multiple vaccine options and looks to start trials on one as early as August, Fauci said.

A study recently published in Nature reported “complete protection” from Zika for a vaccine tested on mice, and the findings indicate that developing a vaccine for humans is likely.

“We feel that we will be able to successful develop a vaccine against Zika,” Fauci said.

As of June 22, there are 1,860 reported cases of the Zika virus in U.S. territories, most of which are in Puerto Rico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the continental USA, there are 820 cases, 819 of which are travel related and only one laboratory acquired case. The virus is not yet spreading among mosquitoes in the continental U.S.

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Kevin Griffis, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, said the bill voted down Tuesday still would not cover the full costs of addressing all concerns around Zika. President Obama originally asked Congress in February to provide $1.9 billion to fight the virus.

"(The $1.9 billion) is what’s we need to do the work properly,” Griffis said.