Lincoln Anthony (8th Period)-"President asks congress for emergency funding for Zika virus"

With the outbreak of a fairly new virus, the Zika virus, in South America, Central America, and some parts of the United States, President Obama has asked Congress for emergency funds to combat this devastating disease. The disease seems like some kind of flu at first, with symptoms like a fever, rashes, and muscle pains, but the worst thing about this disease is the effect it has on pregnant women's babies. The Zika virus causes Microcephalus, more commonly referred to as "small head syndrome", in the babies of women with this ailment. An addition to the already vast catalogue of diseases spread by mosquito, the virus has proven quite difficult for scientists to work on the cure.

Outbreaks like this one have been present since time began, notable examples in American history being anything from the epidemic of smallpox during the early colonization of America, all the way to the much more recent Ebola scare just last year. It's good for Obama to be taking some sort of action against this virus. Microcephalus is one of the most debilitating diseases that a child can have.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/washington/20160208-obama-asking-congress-for-emergency-funding-to-combat-zika.ece