USAID Response to the Zika Virus Outbreak

Agency for International Development (USAID) is prepared to respond to the Zika virus outbreak in countries affected by the virus. The agency is included in a Fiscal Year 2016 supplemental request to aggressively respond to the outbreak. USAID will work with its interagency and international partners to address the insufficient national surveillance systems, laboratory capacity, and preparedness across the developing world to deal with the influx of new and emerging pathogens. The World Health Organization announced on February 1 that the recent cluster of microcephaly and other neurological disorders reported in the Americas constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. There is a temporal association between this cluster and Zika virus disease outbreaks in this region. The cluster of microcephaly cases is devastating for the affected children and their families, and it raises many questions for pregnant women and their families across the Americas. USAID is working to address the Zika virus outbreak through its existing programs and the FY 2016 supplemental request for $335 million. The agency will roll out communication/behavior change campaigns in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO)/Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and local partners. The campaigns will include partnerships with communications firms and large corporations, particularly in Latin America. The communication/behavior change strategy will focus on empowering communities to take actions to protect themselves from the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases. The messaging will be iterative and will reflect new information as it becomes available. The strategy will involve community voices to develop and execute solutions. For example, communications messaging can reinforce national vector control operations that target the mosquitoes spreading the virus. USAID will also support the implementation of a package of integrated vector management activities in communities at risk of the Zika virus. These activities will include robust community mobilization campaigns, focal larviciding, and window and door screening to reduce mosquito entry into homes and other important community settings. The integrated vector management efforts will also incorporate new vector control tools as they become available. In addition, USAID will expand access to care and support for impacted women and their families through its existing PEPFAR, maternal and child health, and family planning platforms. The agency will provide support for training of health care workers, and updating the information and training as new data becomes available. USAID will also provide support for pregnant women, including helping them access repellent to protect against mosquitoes, and ensuring access to voluntary family planning information, services, and methods. The FY 2016 supplemental request for USAID includes funding for the following components: communication/behavior change strategy, community implementation of integrated vector management, maternal health care, and innovations. The request will enable USAID to leverage the private sector and speed the development and introduction of innovations to address Zika and other infectious diseases.