The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is giving Florida and U.S. territories $66.1 million over three years to fight the Zika virus.
The money will go towards improving provider capacity and capability, as well as supporting prevention activities and treatment, CMS said.
Most of the funding, $60.6 million, is going to Puerto Rico, which has the highest incidence of locally transmitted Zika cases, CMS said. The rest is going to health departments in American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Florida.
The allocation was based on the percent of active and local Zika cases reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the size of the populations in these areas, CMS said.
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When the emergency funding was announced on November 9, 2016, the CDC had designated only Florida and the territories as having laboratory-confirmed active or local Zika virus transmission. Other states have confirmed cases but are not currently eligible for the funds because those affected acquired the virus through travel, not locally.
Zika infection during pregnancy has been linked to fetal death and other adverse birth outcomes, including microcephaly and potentially severe fetal brain defects.
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Several countries that have experienced Zika outbreaks have reported an increase in the number of people who have Guillain-Barré syndrome, a sickness that causes damage to a person's nerve cells, the CDC reported.
"This funding will help prevent the spread of the Zika virus and meet the health needs of people who have been infected" said Vikki Wachino, deputy administrator for CMS.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse