Washington, Jumada II 28, 1437, April 06, 2016, SPA -- The US will shift 589 million dollars to combat the Zika virus in the face of the rising threat from the mosquito-borne illness that is spreading across Latin America and could soon appear within the United States, the White House announced Wednesday, according to dpa. The funds, most of which were once earmarked for the fight against Ebola, will be used for mosquito control, vaccine development, support for affected pregnant women and babies and mapping the spread of the disease. The White House had requested some 1.9 billion dollars in emergency funding from Congress in February, but lawmakers have yet to act on the request. "We do have an opportunity to prepare for the Zika virus, but Congress has completely abdicated their responsibility to follow through on a proposal that the administration put forward based on the advice of scientific experts," spokesman Josh Earnest said. --SPA 23:02 LOCAL TIME 20:02 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w