Latest news with #EpidemicIntelligenceService
CBS News
07-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
CDC disease detectives exempted from Trump hiring freeze, averting cut to program
The Department of Health and Human Services has granted an exemption to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to hire a new class of its disease detectives, multiple CDC officials said, averting a feared halving of the highly selective fellowship. Each year, the CDC usually hires a new class of its Epidemic Intelligence Service officers to replace those graduating from the agency's two-year program. Nicknamed the CDC's "disease detectives," officers are often dispatched around the country to support the agency's response to investigating outbreaks and other health emergencies, or assigned to work with CDC teams or health departments. "HHS granted the CDC an exemption to onboard and train newly selected EIS officers. EIS officers continue to investigate outbreaks, analyze public health data, respond to emergencies, and support health departments worldwide," an HHS spokesperson said in a statement. The fate of the program had worried CDC officials, amid a sweeping federal hiring freeze that has halted most efforts to add new staff to the agency. Most officers need to move to a new location to serve in the program, ahead of a June 30 start date. Even as incoming officers went through the process to match with their assignments at the CDC's annual EIS conference last month, officials were warned that the department had yet to approve the hiring of the new class. Many decisions at the CDC are now bottlenecked for HHS approvals, multiple officials said. Some blame the lack of a director to empower leaders within the agency to sign off on decisions. The previous acting CDC head — Susan Monarez — had to step aside to go through the Senate nomination process to become the agency's permanent director. Two officials said that there had also been a mixup within the CDC, getting the request to HHS for the hiring of the incoming EIS officers, resulting in a further delay. Officials had previously been warned that the "disease detectives" program would be halved as part of the Trump administration's terminations of probationary workers earlier this year, though the program was ultimately spared from the cuts. Fellowship programs like EIS are often seen as a way for aspiring public health workers to get a start at the agency. Several senior CDC officials started at the agency through the program. Many of the terminated probationary workers at the CDC earlier this year had also been recently hired for full-time positions, fresh out of these fellowship programs. A handful of exemptions have been carved out for other hirings at the CDC, officials said, including for the agency's Laboratory Leadership Service program. That program matches scientists with training in public health laboratories at the CDC and around the country. Other agencies have also been able to hire on a handful of staff, despite the federal hiring freeze that has ground most recruiting to a halt. Most recent hires have been limited to political appointees and scientists already offered jobs and being onboarded, multiple officials said, when the freeze was first imposed. Multiple National Institutes of Health officials said they had been approved to continue onboarding new hires to its clinical fellows program, which allows junior doctors to participate in NIH research. One person said that more than 80 were in the pipeline to start on July 1.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service protects public health at home and abroad
When the Trump administration announced in February 2025 that it was cutting 10% of staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it seemed that a small but storied program within it called the Epidemic Intelligence Service – also known as the CDC's disease detectives – would also be cut. A few days later, the program was reinstated. And in March, Epidemic Intelligence Service officers traveled to Texas to support the state's public health officials in fighting the ongoing measles epidemic. But after another massive upheaval at the CDC in April, the unit's future is uncertain. As of now, applications for the program's next round of fellows has been postponed. The Epidemic Intelligence Service is a dynamic crisis response team. Just as firefighters rush into burning buildings to save lives, this team's specialists mobilize both domestically and internationally to help curb disease outbreaks. But first and foremost, it is a training program that has produced some of the most highly trained and regarded public health experts in the country who have gone on to work at local and state public health offices, academic departments and international health organizations. We are public health experts – one an experienced professor who served in the Epidemic Intelligence Service from 1994-1996, and the other an early career trainee who was accepted to its incoming class of 2025-2027. Although it's not clear how the administration will enact its new vision for the CDC, we hope a continued urgency to identify and fight infectious disease threats – the essence of the Epidemic Intelligence Service – remains a national priority. The Epidemic Intelligence Service is a two-year fellowship open to physicians, scientists and other health professionals. The program accepts 50 to 80 people each year. The Epidemic Intelligence Service was founded in 1951, just five years after the launch of the CDC, in response to Cold War-era concerns about biological warfare. Alexander Langmuir, its founder, was the CDC's chief epidemiologist and has often been called the father of shoe-leather epidemiology – on-the-ground, out-of-the-office disease investigation through extensive field work and engagement with affected populations. In a report announcing the unit's establishment, Langmuir and a colleague wrote that one of the 'problems that would emerge in the event of biological warfare attacks' was 'the dearth of trained epidemiologists.' They recognized the urgent need for a specialized team capable of rapidly identifying and responding to potential bioterrorism threats. The new division soon evolved to address a wide range of civilian public health threats. In 1955, as one of its first major actions, the program's officers were tasked with investigating an outbreak of polio in children that started just as the first mass vaccination campaign against the disease launched. Within weeks, Epidemic Intelligence Service officers helped trace the outbreak to a few batches of a vaccine manufactured by a California company called Cutter Laboratories in which the virus had not been properly killed. The incident led to increased safety regulations in vaccine production and boosted public confidence, paving the way to eliminating polio from the U.S. in the ensuing decades. The Epidemic Intelligence Service has led the way in tackling many of the most historically significant outbreaks of the past 75 years. Starting in 1966, the unit's officers were deployed to West Africa to assist in a worldwide smallpox eradication campaign that laid the groundwork for eliminating the disease 13 years later. In 1976, the disease detectives were sent to investigate an outbreak in Philadelphia of a mysterious deadly illness. They helped to characterize what would eventually be known as Legionnaires' disease, a previously unknown bacterial cause of pneumonia. And in 1981, a tip from an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer serving in the Los Angeles County Health Department led to the first description of a new disease that would become the global epidemic of HIV-AIDS. The program's officers went on to help lead foundational studies on prevalence, prevention and treatment of AIDS around the world. Even from its earliest days, vaccine-preventable and infectious diseases were far from the Epidemic Intelligence Service's only focus. During the program's first 15 years, its officers were involved in a wide swath of epidemiological investigations in areas including lead paint exposure, a cancer cluster's connection to birth defects, family planning practices and famine relief. These activities established the group's priorities of addressing chronic diseases and population health – goals that have also driven its involvement in disaster response efforts, including hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Katrina, as well as the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The Epidemic Intelligence Service has also played a key role in keeping the nation's food supply safe. It investigates major outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, helping to identify which foods are implicated so that contaminated products are removed from shelves and disseminating investigation findings that inform food safety policy. For example, officers investigated a 1993 outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 linked to undercooked hamburgers at several Jack in the Box restaurants. The outbreak sickened more than 700 people and resulted in the deaths of four children. It also led to major food safety reforms including expanded meat and poultry inspection nationwide. The importance of an expert, nimble team of disease detectives has only increased. Over the past few years, Epidemic Intelligence Service officers have responded to countless public health threats. The program's officers were involved at every stage of the COVID-19 pandemic response, conducting outbreak investigations on cruise ships, in prisons and in many other settings. They investigated the outbreak of monkeypox in the U.S. in 2022. Most recently they have investigated cases of avian influenza and are working to help describe and control the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas. Perhaps the Epidemic Intelligence Service's most significant legacy has been in building a worldwide network of deep epidemiological expertise. To date, the program has trained more than 4,000 disease detectives, and its officers have collectively conducted thousands of outbreak investigations. The unit's impact has been global. It has been called in to investigate outbreaks on six continents and has served as a model for epidemiology programs developed in dozens of countries. All of these activities, at home and abroad, have shaped health policy in crucial ways that in turn protect people's health. It is increasingly clear that disease outbreaks will continue to occur in the U.S. and abroad. In our view, the Epidemic Intelligence Service's history provides rich evidence of its value. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Mark Dworkin, University of Illinois Chicago and Casey Luc, University of Illinois Chicago Read more: CDC layoffs strike deeply at its ability to respond to the current flu, norovirus and measles outbreaks and other public health emergencies Susan Monarez, Trump's nominee for CDC director, faces an unprecedented and tumultuous era at the agency How big will the coronavirus epidemic be? An epidemiologist updates his concerns I am currently a member of the EIS Alumni Association Executive Committee. Casey Luc does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr.'s Anti-Vax Views Officially Take Hold at CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to launch a study on connections between vaccines and autism, despite extensive research debunking the conspiracy theory. The move comes weeks after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a long history of opposing vaccination, was confirmed as secretary of health and human services. It's not clear if he is involved with the decision. Right now, the United States is in the midst of a massive measles outbreak resulting in two deaths and more than 150 infections, and Kennedy's response has been lackluster. Kennedy downplayed the first recorded measles death in a decade last week, and since then, has refused to endorse the vaccine and instead touted therapeutic remedies like vitamin A, alarming experts. Last month, on Kennedy's first day heading the department, the CDC laid off half of its Epidemic Intelligence Service, otherwise known as the 'Disease Detectives,' axing 1,260 employees. This latest move gives in to the conspiracy theory of a link between vaccines and autism, which is fueled by a rise in diagnoses that researchers say is really due to more screenings taking place. In the late 1990s, a now-discredited and debunked British study connected autism to the widespread administration of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. During his address to Congress on Tuesday, President Trump mentioned the rise in autism among children, tasking Kennedy with finding the cause. 'So, we're going to find out what it is, and there's nobody better than Bobby and all of the people that are working with you,' Trump said. During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy denied being anti-vaccine, although he refused to acknowledge that there were no proven links between vaccines and autism. And Trump NIH nominee Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said during his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this week that he 'would support a broad scientific agenda based on data to get an answer to' the rise in autism rates. It seems that, in terms of public health, the Trump administration has now adopted the philosophy of 'We're just asking questions.'
The Hill
04-03-2025
- Health
- The Hill
CDC says it is on the ground in Texas to aid in measles outbreak response
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is on the ground in Texas to aid the state in tamping down a measles outbreak, the agency said Tuesday. The agency in a statement on the social platform X said it has sent some of its Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) 'disease detectives' to the West Texas region, the same day the state reported an additional 13 cases, bringing the total to 159. Twenty-two of the patients have been hospitalized and one child has died, the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade and the first death in a child in the U.S. since 2003. The CDC's participation means Texas officials requested federal assistance, since the agency can't send a team without an official state ask. The partnership, known as an Epi-Aid, is a rapid-response effort in which the Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers — the 'disease detectives' — will provide local officials support for one to three weeks, the CDC said. The local authority leads the investigation while collaborating with CDC experts. 'The measles outbreak in Texas is a call to action for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to public health. By working together — parents, healthcare providers, community leaders, and government officials, we can prevent future outbreaks and protect the health of our nation,' Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. Kennedy last week said the CDC was providing 'technical assistance and vaccines' to help with the outbreak, including lab support and sending doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines. The outbreak has largely spread within a community of Mennonites in Gaines County, who historically have had lower vaccination rates. A longtime vaccine skeptic, Kennedy initially downplayed the outbreak during a Cabinet meeting with President Trump last week, saying it was 'not unusual' and falsely claiming that many people hospitalized were there 'mainly for quarantine.' He still has not openly encouraged vaccination, though in an op-ed posted on the Fox News website Sunday he urged parents to talk with their doctors 'to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine' while emphasizing that the decision to get vaccinated was a 'personal one.' In a prerecorded Fox News interview Tuesday, Kennedy said HHS was shipping doses of vitamin A to Gaines County, the epicenter of the outbreak, and was helping to arrange ambulance rides. Kennedy did not explicitly endorse vaccinations in the interview. He claimed doctors in the area have reported 'very very good results' from treating patients with a steroid called budesonide, an antibiotic called clarithromycin and cod liver oil, which he said had high concentrations of Vitamin A and Vitamin D. Vitamin A has been used for years in children in developing countries with severe measles, but doctors have said the evidence of its effectiveness is mixed. It isn't used widely in the U.S., likely because children aren't Vitamin A deficient.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The measles outbreak in Texas is Trump's first public health test of his second term
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, a historic achievement in the world of public health. Now, it's back. And the second Donald Trump administration is making it harder to fight the outbreak, which does not bode well for the next four years. Since January, Texas has reported 100 cases of the highly contagious viral infection as outbreaks have spread in under-vaccinated communities, with 16 that required hospitalization. Eighty percent of these cases involve people who did not receive the measles vaccine, which is typically given to young children as part of the MMR vaccine, or measles, mumps and rubella. The vaccine doesn't just work on individuals; it also protects the community, including those who cannot get vaccinated for health reasons. Ideally, herd immunity would take effect when at least 95% of people in an area are vaccinated. But in Gaines County, for example, childhood immunization rates hover near 70%. In a normal presidency, this would be a time for action, with federal support for local public health programs or maybe the president using the bully pulpit to encourage people to get their children a safe and effective vaccine that prevents a brutal disease that can cause deafness, intellectual disabilities or even death. But the Trump administration is instead making things worse, in part by reducing the number of public health workers haphazardly in its zeal to cut the federal workforce. Recent federal health agency staffing reductions have hampered containment efforts. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lost 1,300 employees — around 10% of its workforce — including 50 specialists from its Epidemic Intelligence Service program tasked with outbreak investigations. These cuts coincide with delayed case reporting and reduced data-sharing with local health departments, complicating real-time response coordination. Trump's personal vaccine skepticism and his efforts to undercut the similarly safe and effective coronavirus vaccine by reinstating military service members who were dismissed for refusing it may also be to blame. Vaccination rates continue to decline nationally, with exemptions reaching record highs in 12 states. While most measles cases involve children, the CDC warns that adults vaccinated before 1968 may need booster shots—a recommendation struggling to gain traction due to strained public health outreach capacities. The current Texas outbreak mirrors 2019's surge in New York, where 1,274 cases nearly cost the U.S. its designation as a country that had eliminated the disease. Health experts stress that measles' 90% transmission rate demands rapid, well-resourced responses. With hospitalizations rising and containment protocols delayed, the window to preserve this public health milestone is narrowing. Investment in immunization programs and disease surveillance remains critical to preventing measles from regaining endemic status. Unfortunately, we will not get the kind of response we need from the Trump administration soon. Subscribe to Trump's First 100 Days newsletter for weekly updates on and expert insight into the key issues and figures defining his second term. This article was originally published on
