U.S. Representative Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18) made the following statement regarding reports of four locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus in Florida, the first in the continental United States:

"Since February, I have called on Congress to take responsible action by passing emergency funding to combat Zika as the number of travel-related cases in Florida grew. Now that it appears the virus is being locally transmitted, the need to provide resources to respond to this public health crisis could not be more clear or urgent," said Murphy.  "We must work together on long-term solutions to combat this virus. That means Congress not only passing this critical funding, but also taking action on initiatives like my SMASH Act to bolster local mosquito control efforts. It also means the state must act to expand Medicaid and restore family planning funding that will be critical in this fight."

In addition to introducing the SMASH Act to provide critical resources to state and local governments to help fight the spread of Zika, Murphy called on Florida Governor Rick Scott to expand Medicaid and release family planning dollars to help combat the spread of Zika.  Murphy is also a cosponsor of H.R. 5044 and has continually called on Congress to pass this bill providing the full $1.9 billion in emergency Zika funding requested by the President in February. For more information from the CDC on the Zika virus and prevention efforts, including how to protect yourself from mosquito bites, click here.

###