Illinois is receiving more than $500,000 dollars in federal grants to help prepare for an outbreak of the Zika Virus. Local physicians say the money is crucial to finding a cure.
The Illinois Department of Public Health is receiving $350,000 and the Chicago Department of Public Health about $200,000. The grant money is thanks to a more than $500,000 in federal grants to help prepare for and prevent a Zika outbreak.
Dr. Muhammad Orakzai from St. Mary's Hospital in Decatur says the funding is crucial in terms of testing and research.
"As a physician," explains Dr. Orakzai, "When you get a patient with symptoms like that coming in from those countries, like Brazil, Latin America, Caribbean, we can start testing them and send those tests out of the hospital [with the funding.]"
Zika is mainly spread by a tropical mosquito, causing an epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean. The virus can cause birth defects and continues to spread.
2,900 people in the U.S. have been affected by the Zika Virus, including over 500 pregnant women, all of which traveled outside of the country.
"The Public Health Department recently reported 23 cases of Zika Virus in the state of Illinois," says Dr. Orakzai.
Meanwhile lawmakers in Washington have been fighting over a $1.9 billion proposal to fight the virus.
"We didn't draw that number from the clouds," explains President Barack Obama, "It was based on the assessment of our scientists and experts of what's going to be needed for basic mosquito abatement and vaccine development and making sure we've got the proper diagnostic tools to respond effectively for the health and safety of the American people."
Dr. Orakzai believes research and prevention is so costly because of the amount of work that needs to be done to stop the epidemic from spreading. He says there's no immediate risk of getting Zika, unless you travel to the tropical locations that have the mosquitoes that carry the virus.
