Chief of CDC ’s ‘weather service’ strives to help local health agencies use infectious disease forecasting

In August 2021, amid criticism for bungling its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched an ambitious effort to prevent a similarly poor performance going forward. The Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA) is intended to become the nation’s pandemic “weather service.” It aims to forecast the location, scale, and severity of infectious disease outbreaks in enough detail to help local officials advise on practical issues like whether nursing homes should allow visitors or a school district should require masking. CDC’s 12th center is also a response to widespread criticism that the agency failed in one of its most basic functions: public communication. Confusing or controversial pandemic guidelines on school openings , masking , and boosters were among its many missteps by the summer of 2021. Nearly 2 years later, according to its director, CFA has scored its first successes, rapidly predicting the severity of a U.S. COVID-19 wave when the Omicron variant arose and publishing prompt, detailed status reports during the mpox outbreak last year. The center has hired more than 50 of a planned 132 employees. Their inaugural in-person meeting at CDC’s home base in Atlanta is set for August. Some employees will be stationed there; others will work remotely; and others will occupy the center’s planned physical headquarters in Washington, D.C. The center...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news