"Congress took off from Washington Wednesday afternoon without voting to appropriate any of the $1.9 billion the Obama administration has asked for to fight Zika and leaving top health officials feeling a little desperate.

Zika continues its spread across Latin America and the Caribbean, racking up a growing number of birth defects. Cases are piling up in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and southern states from Texas to Florida are bracing for smaller outbreaks as mosquito season approaches.

But Republicans in Congress say they don't want to spend new money if they don't have to. "

Maggie Fox reports for NBC News March 23, 2016. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Bio-Threat Protections Inadequate" (Center for Public Integrity) [3]

"Leadership Needed to End an Epidemic" (Huffington Post) [4]

"WHO: Yellow Fever Outbreak Kills 178 in Angola" (AP) [5]

"Birth Defects Tied to Zika in Panama" (New York Times) [6]