(Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama will ask Congress for $1.8 billion in emergency funding to combat the Zika virus, the White House said Monday.

Thousands of pregnant women in South America, Central America and the Caribbean have been infected with the mosquito-borne virus that has been linked to a birth defect.

Read: The Zika virus: 5 things to know

More than 50 cases have been reported in the U.S. among people returning from travel to Zika-plagued regions.

“We have to take this very seriously,” Obama said during an interview with “CBS This Morning” that aired Monday. “We’re going to be putting up a legislative proposal to Congress to resource both the research on vaccines and diagnostics but also helping in terms of public health systems.”

The governor of Florida, Republican Rick Scott, last week declared a health emergency in several counties where cases of Zika were discovered.

The $1.8 billion would pay for scientific research on the virus, including work on a potential vaccine; mosquito eradication and enhanced testing capabilities in places at highest risk for Zika; and supporting prevention efforts in the most-affected countries.

Obama’s proposal would boost funding at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by $828 million, to better track the virus and create rapid-response teams to prevent clusters of Zika cases from developing in the U.S., the White House said. About $200 million would go toward research on potential vaccines and diagnostic tests for the virus.

The request also includes $250 million for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program.

The Zika virus has exacerbated a financial crisis in the island territory, and migration from Puerto Rico to the U.S. has been increasing in recent years.

Republicans in Congress have previously rejected the idea of providing additional taxpayer funds to support Puerto Rico as it struggles to pay its debts and provide social services.

It’s not clear how Republicans who control Congress will respond to Obama’s funding request. Republican leaders have said they won’t hold customary hearings after Obama releases his budget on Tuesday.

At a Republican presidential debate on Saturday, some candidates said they would consider quarantines if the disease began spreading rapidly in the U.S.

“We need rapid response for Zika,” Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon running for the presidency, said during the debate in Manchester, New Hampshire. “These are the kinds of things that the NIH, the CDC, can be very effective in. We need to give the the appropriate support for those kind of things.”

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Health, and Anne Schuchat, deputy director of the CDC, planned to take questions from reporters on Monday, the White House said.

Instant Insights /

Obama asks Congress for $1.8B to fight Zika virus

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