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Zika Virus fight resumes on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON — Congress is back to work this week.

Democrats say funding the battle against the Zika Virus needs to be a top priority.

White House Spokesman Josh Earnest called the Zika Virus an “emergency situation.”

“Republicans in congress have dragged their feet and still not come forward with a funding plan consistent with what our public health officials say is necessary,” Earnest said.

Senate Democrats have pledged to push Republicans to fully fund the president's $1.9 billion emergency funding request this week. The White House first made the request nearly four months ago when there were just 50 confirmed cases of in the United States.

Today, the CDC says there are 618 confirmed cases.

The House and Senate have passed separate Zika funding bills.

A senior GOP leadership aide says the House is ready to meet to merge the two bills and is waiting on the Senate.

In a White House blog, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden wrote, “Doctors who have spent the past three decades working in CDC’s birth defects center tell me that they have never seen a situation so urgent.”