Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Florida Congressional Leaders Call For More Dollars In Tackling Zika

Beth Herlin
/
Wikimedia Commons

Florida congressional delegates are calling on the federal government to recalculate the Sunshine State’s share of new Zika response money.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that out of $16 million in emergency funds, Florida is receiving just fewer than 5 percent.

But a letter to the CDC signed by several Florida congressional delegates, including Ponte Vedra’s Rep. Ron DeSantis, said the state should get a much larger share because international travel and its tropical climate make it the “front line” for battling the virus.

At last count, more than 350 state residents have contracted the mosquito-borne illness.

15 of the cases are believed to have been transmitted in a small area of Miami. 

Ryan Benk is a former WJCT News reporter who joined the station in 2015 after working as a news researcher and reporter for NPR affiliate WFSU in Tallahassee.