Manatee County now has a case of the Zika virus.
A “declaration of public health emergency” means more action and cooperation from local officials, including mosquito control.
In light of the case, Congressman Vern Buchanan has called the federal government’s failure to approve Zika funding a “national disgrace.”
In a statement, Buchanan says Floridians “needed federal resources weeks ago to stop this deadly virus.”
He sees thousands of lives at stake because “Congress and the President could not overcome their political differences.”