SC should prepare for Zika virus outbreak

The Rock Hill Herald Editorial Board

Health experts say a major outbreak of the Zika virus in South Carolina this summer is improbable. Nonetheless, we’re better safe than sorry.

The Zika virus can cause frightening birth defects, notably microcephally, which causes children to be born with small heads or hardened spots on their brains. The disease is spread by mosquitoes, primarily Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

However, the virus also can be spread by sexual contact. So even those who are not bitten by an infected mosquito can contract the disease.

So far, South Carolina has just one confirmed case of the virus. But the virus has spread rapidly over the past year in Central and South America, and it also has taken hold in Puerto Rico and parts of the U.S. mainland.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control says that a Zika epidemic in South Carolina is unlikely but not impossible. Unfortunately, if the worst-case scenario occurs, the state is ill prepared to deal with it.

DHEC officials note that nearly two-thirds of the state’s counties have devoted few if any resources to countywide mosquito control. And some of those counties – including a number in the Upstate – are rural and have no cities with mosquito control programs.

DHEC has not had a mosquito control program since the 1980s. Counties and municipalities currently bear the financial burden for spraying and other mosquito eradication efforts.

But, DHEC officials say, few counties have the resources to mount a full-scale, countywide assault on mosquitoes in the event of a Zika outbreak. DHEC has applied for more than $650,000 in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants for equipment and insecticides, but officials say that won’t come close to covering the expense of countywide aerial spraying, which can cost millions.

If the situation grows worse and an outbreak occurs, the ability of local and state governments to respond is likely to depend on preparations taken by the federal government. Unfortunately, the efforts to prepare for a potential Zika invasion have been stalled in Congress.

President Barack Obama asked Congress in February for $1.9 billion to pay for mosquito eradication projects, development of a vaccine and better diagnostic tools to protect Americans from Zika. Senate Republicans advanced a bill last month to provide $1.1 billion in emergency funding, which is nearly $1 billion short of what the president had asked for.

But the Republican-controlled House was even more reluctant to allocate money to the project. The House passed a measure instructing the president to take $622 million from an existing CDC fund for the Zika project, saying new money was not necessary.

Obama said he would veto any bill that resembled the House version.

We hope Congress can put aside political posturing and do what is necessary to prepare for the threat of a Zika outbreak. If disease-bearing mosquitoes gain a foothold in the U.S., it is likely to be in the humid Southern states that are home to large mosquito populations every summer, including South Carolina.

And if a Zika outbreak does occur, vulnerable residents – especially pregnant women – won’t be demanding frugality on the part of government. They’ll be asking where the money is to battle this dread disease.

We hope, if that happens, governments from Washington on down have an answer to that question.

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 9:31 AM with the headline "SC should prepare for Zika virus outbreak."