Surveillance, intervention, and referral to services activities for infants with microcephaly or other adverse outcomes linked with the Zika virus-High Risk Local Areas

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the availability of fiscal year (FY) 2016 funds to high-risk local areas to establish, enhance, and maintain rapid population-based surveillance of microcephaly and other adverse outcomes (especially central nervous system (CNS) defects) possibly linked to Zika virus infection during pregnancy using an active case-finding methodology; participate in centralized pooled clinical and surveillance data projects; ensure affected infants and families are referred to services; and assess health and developmental outcomes of these children. Local health departments are expected to coordinate their efforts outlined in this funding opportunity announcement with the overall State Zika response as appropriate. This aligns with the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) performance goal to “enhance birth defects surveillance, research, and prevention.” This announcement is for non-research activities supported by CDC, i.e., conduct rapid active population-based ascertainment of select major birth defects possibly linked to maternal Zika virus and to use the data for public health action through monitoring, prevention, and intervention.