Zika is now (just about) here

A few days ago, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was saying that public health authorities knew about four homegrown, mosquito-spread Zika infections.

Today, the number jumped to 14.

In Puerto Rico, meanwhile, public health officials are saying that about 5 percent of the healthy-looking pregnant women who get tested for Zika seem to have recently had Zika.

Of course, viruses do strange things. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. But, if future performance is a bit like past results, then I think what these numbers might mean is that roughly one out of every 100 babies born in Puerto Rico when the outbreak is at its worst could come to life already needing a lifetime of costly medical and long-term care services.

Related: CDC chief on Zika: ‘The window of opportunity is closing

Chances are the numbers will soon look like that in most parts of the country that are hospitable to mosquitoes carrying Zika. Colorado, for example, seems to be outside the region, but the CDC Zika map shows that my office in New York City is in the Zika region. 

Something like a few dozen to a few hundred adults could end up getting Guillain Barre Syndrome, a condition that causes paralysis.

Think about all of the cost-shifting that could soon be going on in pediatric wards and at the programs paying for care for the people with Guillain Barre Syndrome.

A few weeks ago, members of Congress couldn’t even function well enough to pass a clean Zika fight funding bill.