WH requests $30M to fight Ebola outbreak

The White House on Friday asked Congress for $30 million to pay for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s efforts to help contain the massive Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The funding comes on top of a $58 million request above current levels to accelerate the development and manufacturing of the experimental drug ZMapp and two Ebola vaccine candidates to fight the deadly disease.

{mosads}The $30 million funding would boost the number of staff in West Africa, including epidemiologists and intelligence officers tracking the disease, from 100 to 150. The additional money would also pay for support staff in the U.S.

A group of House Democrats on Thursday urged GOP leaders to schedule a hearing on the Ebola outbreak when Congress reconvenes from a five-week recess next week.

“The House is scheduled to be in session only ten days this month. We should use this time wisely and hold hearings on this important global health issue as expeditiously as possible,” lawmakers wrote, including House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and panel members Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.),

The lawmakers expressed interest about whether agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are equipped to fight the virus and the status of efforts to develop anti-Ebola drugs.