Epidemic Intelligence Service

Really, really important work.

But there was a culture of medicine and clinicians who are working in outbreak response in the Epidemic Intelligence Service who didn't believe that it was real.

So there was a lot of joking.

So these young practitioners kind of went there without knowledge or, or, or-

Okay.

So, well, let's talk about your epidemic intelligence service.

After medical school, you joined the EIS, right? And you were involved, as I understand it, in analyzing data for the new polio vaccine, wasn't it?

That's right.

over the causes of death emerged between Governor Josh Shapiro and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Now, a thaw appears to be emerging between Harrisburg and Washington.

In its first in-person assistance to Pennsylvania, the Centers for Disease Control is sending a, quote, disease detective from the agency's Epidemic Intelligence Service.

These deployments have already taken place in South Carolina, Texas, and other states, and they're meant to help mobilize and streamline outbreak containment efforts.

The CDC is also releasing nearly $4 million to aid the measles response effort in Pennsylvania.

Oh, okay.

A CDC spokesperson said on Friday, "That person, who is a disease detective within the agency's ep- uh, Epidemic Intelligence Service, is scheduled to arrive early next week." Wow.

That's nice.

So there's a measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, and after two months they're gonna get on the case.

"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," begins an NBC News article, "is sending one of its scientists to Pennsylvania to help curb the state's growing measles outbreak, a CDC spokesperson said Thursday.

That person, a disease detective within the agency's Epidemic Intelligence Service, is scheduled to arrive later this week.

It's the CDC's first in-person assistance to the state after a social media feud in August between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

The two traded jabs following a press briefing where Shapiro announced that two unvaccinated people had died of measles complications and accused Kennedy of spreading vaccine misinformation." That was an article from NBC News.

issues, and we can talk all about that later, but really do a lot of prevention and they do a lot of training of public health specialists and epidemiologists and people who track diseases to try to understand how to prevent them.

I applied and got into a program there called the Epidemic Intelligence Service.

That's a cool title.

Yeah.

It's very competitive.

But if you get in, it's a wonderful opportunity.

So it's a two-year program called the Epidemic Intelligence Service.

It sounds really like a spy thing.

... uh, in Atlanta.

There was no, um, emergency, uh, or national security, um, history really for the CDC, with the exception of the Epidemic Intelligence Service.

So there was a lot of change in the works beginning on 9/11, and I found even though there were times when it was very frustrating, the, uh, the people at CDC were strong and, and scientifically reliable, and the rest was about coordination, and I think so much, as I said, has changed since then and for the best.

And, and Stu, I absolutely agree with you.

I left my hospital job behind, came to America.

to serve as an officer in the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the CDC.

And one of the first outbreaks I investigated as an EIS officer at the CDC was an outbreak of whooping cough in a NICU.

And I was crawling on the floor and I was measuring between the cots How is it that these preemies, these tiny babies could cough hard enough that they were dispelling droplets onto another baby? How did this outbreak happen in a NICU? Well, let me tell you, long story short, unvaccinated healthcare workers with a hacking cough were going into the NICU while they themselves were sick and coughing over the babies because they didn't want to use up their personal time off.