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Florida Governor Calls on Obama to Expedite Zika Funding

© REUTERS / Jim YoungA woman walks past a giant fake mosquito placed on top of a bus shelter as part of an awareness campaign about the Zika virus in Chicago, Illinois, United States, May 16, 2016
A woman walks past a giant fake mosquito placed on top of a bus shelter as part of an awareness campaign about the Zika virus in Chicago, Illinois, United States, May 16, 2016 - Sputnik International
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Florida Governor Rick Scott urged US President Barack Obama to immediately allocate the maximum amount of federal funding available to the state to fight the Zika virus.

A biologist places a recipient with larvae of aedes aegypti mosquitoes as he conducts a research on preventing the spread of the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases at a control and prevention center in Guadalupe, neighbouring Monterrey, Mexico, March 8, 2016 - Sputnik International
US State of Florida Distributes Extra $10Mln to Fight Zika Virus
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama should immediately allocate federal funds to fight the Zika virus in Florida because it has been over a month since Congress approved the funding bill, Governor Rick Scott said in a press release on Tuesday.

"It has been more than a month since Congress passed and the president signed a Zika funding bill yet Florida…has not received any new dollars," the release stated. "The Governor is urging President Obama to immediately allocate the maximum amount of federal funding available to the state."

Scott also requested the government to provide a detailed report for the $1.1 billion in financial assistance, which has been designated for combating Zika in the state.

Scott pointed out in the release that "bureaucracy and politics" in Washington keep getting in the way of resolving the public health issue.

President Barack Obama speaks at the Treasury Department in Washington, Tuesday, June 14, 2016, following a meeting with his National Security Council to get updates on the investigation into the attack in Orlando, Florida and review efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL. - Sputnik International
Obama Discusses Spending Plan, Zika Funding With US Congressional Leaders
On Monday, the Center for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) said in a press release that four new travel cases have been registered in Florida. According to the most recent CDC data, 1103 individuals in the state have been diagnosed with Zika, including 183 persons infected as a result local transmission.

The current Zika outbreak started in Brazil in the spring of 2015. The virus is transmitted by infected Aedes species of mosquitoes and can cause severe brain defects to unborn babies, including microcephaly.

In February, the World Health Organization declared the Zika virus a global public health emergency.

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