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KUNC is here to keep you up-to-date on the news about COVID-19 鈥� the disease caused by the novel coronavirus 鈥� Colorado's response to its spread in our state and its impact on Coloradans.

Alumni Of Epidemic Intelligence Service Lament 'Silencing' of CDC

Matthias Heyde
/
Unsplash

A large group of outbreak specialists say there鈥檚 been a problematic silencing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during this pandemic. 

More than 600 alumni of the CDC鈥檚  鈥� including more than 15 who served in the Mountain West 鈥� have saying they are 鈥渃oncern[ed] about the ominous politicization and silencing of the nation鈥檚 health protection agency.鈥�

They say the 鈥淐DC should be at the forefront鈥� of the COVID-19 response, rather than having a fragmented response from individual states. And they 鈥渦rgently call upon the American people to demand 鈥� and our nation鈥檚 leaders to allow 鈥� CDC to resume its indispensable role.鈥� 

Dr. Joe Forrester is originally from Colorado, and during his time in the Epidemic Intelligence Service he returned to the state, for a post with a CDC branch in Fort Collins focused on vector-borne bacterial diseases. There, he worked on Lyme disease, in addition to investigating outbreaks of plague and tularemia. He also traveled to Liberia during the Ebola outbreak there. 

鈥淭he people that have signed the letter, among others, are voicing concern about the de-involvement of CDC in what is for almost everyone alive today the largest pandemic that anyone has ever experienced,鈥� he said. 

Forrester says there have been a number of recent moves by the Trump administration that are especially worrisome 鈥攊ncluding a move last week to sidestep the agency when it comes to sharing data on COVID-19 hospitalizations. 

鈥淚 look at that move as but one example of an attempt to limit the opportunities that the CDC has to help protect the American people,鈥� he said. 

Science journalist Maryn McKenna embedded with the EIS for her book, 鈥淏eating Back The Devil,鈥� and told that the CDC has had a number of 鈥渢roubling鈥� absences during the pandemic, ranging from a lack of press briefings to slow data collection. 

鈥淭he question of how the data from tests is being kept track of and is being collected and is being posted 鈥� that would be a CDC job," McKenna said. "And it just does not seem that they are doing the kind of comprehensive work that they would have done in past outbreaks. And it's quite odd to see that other entities have kind of rushed to fill that gap.鈥� 

McKenna pointed out that Johns Hopkins, The Atlantic and The New York Times are considered the most comprehensive COVID-19 data trackers, when it should be the CDC.

Dr. Philip Lederer served in the EIS from 2012 to 2014, during which time he worked on diseases including HIV/AIDS and the MERS coronavirus outbreak, working everywhere from Atlanta, Georgia, to Mozambique and Namibia. He said the letter has been gaining traction, jumping from about 360 signatures to more than 600 over the past week.

Lederer and others wrote in in The New York Times in June that the CDC has been 鈥渦nderfunded for decades鈥� and "must be funded appropriately, charged with leading the Covid-19 response and also with addressing the health inequities unmasked by this global pandemic.鈥�

In the open letter, the EIS alumni said, 鈥淭he absence of national leadership on COVID-19 is unprecedented and dangerous,鈥� resulting in 鈥渃haos鈥� and a fragmented local response. 鈥淲e urgently call upon the American people to demand and our nation鈥檚 leaders to allow CDC to resume its indispensable role.鈥� 

Last week, four previous CDC directors echoed the sentiment in a piece in the Washington Post, saying this level of politicizing public health is unprecedented.

鈥淚t is not too late to give the CDC its proper role in guiding this response,鈥� they . 鈥淏ut the clock is ticking.鈥� 

This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the .

Rae Ellen Bichell was a reporter for KUNC and the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau from 2018 to 2020.
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