USA TODAY: Congress fiddles, Zika spreads: Our view Editorial Board “…Congress’s propensity to rush from crisis to crisis, and its inconsistent spending on public health, make each new disease an emergency. … [B]oth chambers refuse to vote on Zika funding by itself. They have forced it to hitch a ride…

Agence France-Presse: WHO releases new updated guideline on sexual transmission of Zika virus “The World Health Organization has released an interim guidance update underscoring the mounting evidence that sexual transmission of the Zika virus is not only possible, but more common than previously assumed…” (5/31). Reuters: WHO advises eight weeks…

CQ News: Puerto Rico Zika Outbreak Highlights Medicaid Woes “Puerto Rico is facing three converging crises demanding congressional attention: hundreds of cases of Zika, a $72 billion fiscal disaster, and growing financial concerns about its Medicaid program. As lawmakers consider a $1.1 billion package to combat the nationwide spread of…

White House Blog: The Private Sector Is Stepping Up to Combat the Zika Virus — Congress Should Too Writing that the Zika virus outbreak “poses a serious threat to pregnant women,” CDC Director Tom Frieden adds, “Make no mistake: The Zika virus is an emergency that we need to address.…

New York Times: Zika Virus Swamps Embattled Puerto Rico “…Zika has blanketed three-quarters of this lush island over the past six months, say health authorities, who expect it to keep spreading now that it is prime mosquito season. More than 1,350 people have tested positive for Zika since the beginning…

The Hill: Congress heading toward Zika conference “…The Senate agreed by a voice vote Wednesday evening to go a joint House-Senate conference committee on a wide-ranging appropriations bill that includes $1.1 billion in unpaid-for funding to combat the Zika virus…” (Carney, 6/8). New York Times: Congress Will Work on $1.1…

Wall Street Journal: Viewpoints: Desmond-Hellmann of The Gates Foundation In this 28-minute video, “Susan Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks to WSJ’s Rebecca Blumenstein about the Zika virus, drug pricing, and common core” (6/9).

The Atlantic: Will Congress Reach an Agreement on Zika? “In the nearly four months since the Obama administration issued its $1.9 billion Zika funding request, congressional lawmakers have publicly bickered over each chamber’s response to the virus. This week, select members met formally for the very first time to begin…

The Atlantic: Why Hasn’t Disease Wiped out the Human Race? Amesh Adalja, infectious disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh “…Diseases’ failure to knock us out is a testament to just how resilient humans are. Part of our evolutionary heritage is our immune system … This system, when viewed at…

Washington Post: Don’t let Zika stop the Olympics Ashish K. Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, K.T. Li professor of health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School “An expert panel convened by the World Health Organization just…