Hearing examines public health response to Zika virus

The House Energy and Commerce Committee today held a subcommittee hearing on the U.S. public health response to Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that can cause birth defects in infants born to women infected during pregnancy. About 94% of the more than 5,200 Zika cases reported in the continental U.S. since 2015 were in travelers returning from other affected areas. In a report today on the U.S. public health response to the virus, the Government Accountability Office recommended that the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide information to help ensure that users of diagnostic tests can compare performance, among other actions. Also testifying at the hearing were officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, FDA and National Institutes of Health.