U.S. Government Begins Prepping Battle Against Zika with National Summit

By Kelly A. Briganti, Editorial Director, G2 Intelligence

With mosquito season rapidly approaching, the fight against the Zika virus is heating up in the U.S. A press conference scheduled for today is expected to announce a request to Congress seeking emergency funds to support efforts to combat the Zika virus.  Last Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hosted 300 federal, state and local government representatives, health care professionals and private stakeholders at a national summit to discuss how to prepare to battle the Zika virus here in the U.S.

“The mosquitoes that carry Zika virus are already active in U.S. territories, hundreds of travelers with Zika have already returned to the continental U.S., and we could well see clusters of Zika virus in the continental U.S. in the coming months. Urgent action is needed, especially to minimize the risk of exposure during pregnancy,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. in the CDC’s release announcing the summit. The CDC also released a report that includes maps of the U.S. indicating the agency’s estimate of where the mosquitoes that carry Zika virus can be found.

Amy Pope, J.D., White House Deputy Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy Assistant to the President also noted in the CDC statement the President’s $1.9 million funding request to “prepare for, detect, and respond to any potential Zika outbreaks” in the U.S.

Finally, of most interest to the diagnostic community, days before the summit, the FDA announced that a screening test to detect Zika virus in blood donations was available for use under an investigational new drug application. Puerto Rico has had to import blood from other areas due to its battle with Zika. Noting the importance of protecting the nation’s blood supply and screening blood in U.S. territories already affected by Zika transmissions, Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement: “In the future, should Zika virus transmission occur in other areas, blood collection establishments will be able to continue to collect blood and use the investigational screening test, minimizing disruption to the blood supply.” Roche, whose cobas® Zika test was authorized for use to screen blood donations, says the “first stage” will be to use the test in Puerto Rico to reduce the need to import blood and the “second stage of deployment” for the test will be use “in the southern United States, which will most likely be impacted by any spread in the virus.” “All Testing Laboratories will need to be enrolled in and contracted into the clinical trial as specified and agreed with the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.”