WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration says it does not want to use money Congress provided to fight the Ebola virus to combat the Zika virus and mosquitoes that spread it.
President Barack Obama is asking Congress for more than $1.8 billion in emergency funding to fight the Zika virus. There has been no known transmission of the virus by mosquitoes within the U.S., but at least 50 travelers have returned home to Florida and other states with the infection.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell says officials "need to finish the job in terms of Ebola" and focus separately on Zika.
She says officials "want to do both of them and we are going to do both."
Burwell and other officials briefed congressional leaders Tuesday on efforts to combat Zika.
