Congress Directs CDC to Explain its Strategy to Combat Chikungunya Outbreak in Puerto Rico

Washington, DC—Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi announced today that the House Appropriations Committee has approved its bill providing funding for federal health agencies for Fiscal Year 2016, and—as a result of Pierluisi’s efforts—the report accompanying the bill directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update Congress on the actions it is taking to combat the chikungunya outbreak in Puerto Rico.

“The chikungunya virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, shares many symptoms in common with dengue fever, and is often characterized by severe joint pain.  The first recognized case of chikungunya in Puerto Rico was in May 2014.  Since then, there have been over 30,000 suspected chikungunya cases reported to the Puerto Rico Department of Health, and the actual number of cases is likely much higher,” said Pierluisi. 

There have also been over 20 reported deaths in Puerto Rico in which chikungunya may have been a contributing factor.  There is currently no vaccine for chikungunya, though vaccines are in development.  

The Resident Commissioner has been a leading voice in Washington D.C. on this issue, asking the CDC and Congress to provide additional resources to prevent the spread of the virus in Puerto Rico and the mainland United States.

In June 2014, Pierluisi announced that the CDC was sending an official to Puerto Rico to assist the Puerto Rico Department of Health with its investigation of chikungunya. 

In September 2014, Pierluisi wrote a letter to the Director of the CDC, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, urging the CDC to enhance its efforts to combat chikungunya in Puerto Rico.  In his letter, Pierluisi requested that the CDC provide him with a briefing on the concrete steps the CDC has already taken, and the steps it plans to take going forward, to help the U.S. territory government address this serious public health issue.  That briefing was subsequently provided by Dr. Lyle Petersen, the Director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at CDC, which administers the agency’s programs on diseases transmitted by mosquitoes.

In December 2014, the Resident Commissioner announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved the use of a technology, known as the Intercept Blood System, that will reduce the risk that pathogens like chikungunya and dengue could be transmitted from donors to patients as a result of plasma and platelet transfusions in Puerto Rico. 

In May 2015, Pierluisi helped arrange a briefing in Congress entitled:  “Chikungunya: Combating the Spread of Mosquito-Borne Diseases in America.”  The briefing was hosted by the CDC, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Council of State and Territory Epidemiologists, and the Entomological Society of America.

Securing language directing the CDC to inform Congress about its strategy to combat chikungunya in Puerto Rico is the most recent example of the Resident Commissioner’s efforts on this matter.  The language is contained in the report accompanying the Fiscal Year 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which funds the CDC.

“I want to thank the Appropriations Committee for including the language I requested, which will require the CDC to explain what steps it is taking to address chikungunya in Puerto Rico.  To be frank, I have been discouraged by the amount of resources and attention the CDC is devoting to this issue.  According to the CDC, in Fiscal Year 2014, the agency spent less than $5 million on anti-chikungunya and anti-dengue activities in Puerto Rico.  Imagine if there were over 30,000 cases of chikungunya in Florida or Texas.  I strongly suspect we would have seen a major and immediate infusion of federal resources.  But, because it is in Puerto Rico, the level of resources has been inadequate by any metric,” said Pierluisi      

“The CDC assures me that it is taking the outbreak of chikungunya in Puerto Rico as seriously as it would if the outbreak were in the states, but the evidence simply does not support that claim.  The health and safety of the 3.5 million American citizens that reside in Puerto Rico is no less important than the health and safety of their fellow citizens living in the states, and it is critical for Congress to ensure that the CDC is acting in a way that is consistent with this principle,” added the Resident Commissioner.