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CDC must ‘make hard decisions’ triaging work after elevating Ebola response
Federal News Network • • health
Key Points:
- The CDC has elevated its response to the 2026 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Level 1, its highest emergency activation, reflecting the outbreak's urgency and scale with over 1,100 confirmed cases.
- CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya emphasized the need for substantial staffing over several months and urged employees to join the CDCReady Responder program to support frontline Ebola response efforts.
- The agency faces significant workforce challenges, including low employee morale, staffing shortages due to recent layoffs, and limited new hiring, which have impacted its ability to respond to multiple public health emergencies simultaneously.
- Incentives such as the Post-Deployment Time Off Award program have been suspended by HHS, causing concern among CDC employees, though alternative recognition methods are being explored.
- CDC leadership is conducting a strategic planning process to assess staffing needs and leadership vacancies, with a focus on potentially increasing hiring and filling numerous acting leadership roles to strengthen the agency’s operational capacity.
