WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted decisively on Tuesday in favor of a bipartisan $1.1 billion measure to combat the Zika virus this year and next, cutting back President Barack Obama's request but offering significantly more money to fight Zika than would House GOP conservatives.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff vowed to “win the war” against the Zika virus, but some experts criticized her government's response and warned the Olympics could fuel the disease's spread. The tropical virus is blamed for cases of brain damage in babies as it sweeps through Latin America, and Rousseff, whose government is deploying 220,000 soldiers to help eradicate the mosquitoes that transmit it, likened the outbreak to a battle. Rousseff and US President Barack Obama agreed Friday to launch a high-level bilateral group to develop a vaccine.