Dr. Anne Schuchat (born 1960)

Anne Schuchat (born 1960) is an American medical doctor. She is a former rear admiral and assistant surgeon general in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, who currently serves as the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).^[3][4]

Early life and education[edit]

Schuchat grew up in a Jewish family in Washington, D.C., the fourth of five children.^[5][6] Her grandfather was a kosher butcher from West Virginia.^[6] Schuchat graduated with highest honors from Swarthmore College in 1980 and graduated with honors from Dartmouth Medical School in 1984.^[1][2][7]

Career[edit]

Schuchat at work in the mid-1990s.

Schuchat served as resident and chief resident in internal medicine at New York University′s Manhattan V.A. Hospital before beginning her public health career at CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer in NCID.^[8]

Having worked with the CDC on immunization, respiratory, and other infectious diseases since 1988, she served as the Interim Deputy Director for Science and Public Health at the CDC from February 2009 to June 2009. She has also held other posts in the CDC.^[8]

During the 2001 anthrax attacks, Schuchat served on CDC's Anthrax Emergency Response Team, which was tasked with investigating the attacks.^[1]

From February 2009 to June 2009, Schuchat was the Interim Deputy Director for Science and Public Health Program at the CDC, where she focused on ensuring strong science and programmatic approaches were effectively integrated into planning across the agency. She has emphasized prevention of infectious diseases in children. Her emphasis on perinatal group B streptococcal disease prevention has led to an 80 percent reduction in newborn infections and a 75 percent narrowing of racial disparities among sufferers of this infectious disease. She has been instrumental in pre- and post-licensure evaluations of conjugate vaccines for bacterial meningitis and pneumonia and in accelerating availability of these new vaccines in resource-poor countries through WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.^[8]

From January 20, 2017 through July 7, 2017, Schuchat served as Acting Director of the CDC (and as acting Administrator for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) and again from January 31, 2018 through March 26, 2018, when she was succeeded by Robert R. Redfield as Director.^[9][10][11]

Schuchat has been active in the CDC's efforts to combat the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak in the United States. In a February 25, 2020 HHS briefing on the "China coronavirus" she famously stated "It’s very important to say that our efforts at containment so far have worked, and the virus is actually contained here in the United States."^[12] A May 1, 2020 CDC report authored by Schuchat noted that based on this containment belief federal and local jurisdictions did not recommend restrictions on gatherings, and that several large events consequently held at the end of February played a notable role in the spread of COVID-19 in the United States.^[13]

In popular culture[edit]

The fictional character of Erin Mears in the 2011 film Contagion is partially based on Schuchat and her career. British actress Kate Winslet, who portrays the character, consulted with Schuchat in the process of preparing for the role.^[14]

Personal life[edit]

Schuchat is married and has no children; she has three brothers and one sister.^[5][6] In May 2005, Schuchat received an honorary doctorate in science from Swarthmore College, from which she graduated in 1980.^[1][7][8]

Awards and decorations[edit]

2005: Swarthmore College, Honorary Doctorate in Science^[1][7][8]
American Public Health Association, Maternal and Child Health Young Investigator Award^[8]
United States Public Health Service, USPHS Physician Research Officer of the Year^[8]

United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps[edit]

1st row

Public Health Service Meritorious Service Medal

Public Health Service Outstanding Service Medal^[15]

2nd row

Public Health Service Commendation Medal

Public Health Service Achievement Medal

Public Health Service Outstanding Unit Citation^[16]

3rd row

Public Health Service Unit Commendation

Public Health Service Bicentennial Unit Commendation Award

Public Health Service Foreign Duty Service Award

4th row

Public Health Service Crisis Response Service Award

Public Health Service Regular Corps Ribbon

Commissioned Officers Association

Selected works and publications[edit]

Scholia has an author profile for Anne Schuchat.

Schuchat, Anne; Robinson, Katherine; Wenger, Jay D.; Harrison, Lee H.; Farley, Monica; Reingold, Arthur L.; Lefkowitz, Lewis; Perkins, Bradley A. (October 2, 1997). "Bacterial Meningitis in the United States in 1995". New England Journal of Medicine. 337 (14): 970–976. doi:10.1056/NEJM199710023371404. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 9395430. Wikidata ()
Jernigan, Daniel B.; Raghunathan, Pratima L.; Bell, Beth P.; Brechner, Ross; Bresnitz, Eddy A.; Butler, Jay C.; Cetron, Marty; Cohen, Mitch; Doyle, Timothy; Fischer, Marc; Greene, Carolyn; Griffith, Kevin S.; Guarner, Jeannette; Hadler, James L.; Hayslett, James A.; Meyer, Richard; Petersen, Lyle R.; Phillips, Michael; Pinner, Robert; Popovic, Tanja; Quinn, Conrad P.; Reefhuis, Jennita; Reissman, Dori; Rosenstein, Nancy; Schuchat, Anne; Shieh, Wun-Ju; Siegal, Larry; Swerdlow, David L.; Tenover, Fred C.; Traeger, Marc; Ward, John W.; Weisfuse, Isaac; Wiersma, Steven; Yeskey, Kevin; Zaki, Sherif; Ashford, David A.; Perkins, Bradley A.; Ostroff, Steve; Hughes, James; Fleming, David; Koplan, Jeffrey P.; Gerberding, Julie L. (October 2002). "Investigation of Bioterrorism-Related Anthrax, United States, 2001: Epidemiologic Findings". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 8 (10): 1019–1028. doi:10.3201/EID0810.020353. PMC 2730292. PMID 12396909. Wikidata ()
Whitney, Cynthia G.; Farley, Monica M.; Hadler, James; Harrison, Lee H.; Bennett, Nancy M.; Lynfield, Ruth; Reingold, Arthur; Cieslak, Paul R.; Pilishvili, Tamara; Jackson, Delois; Facklam, Richard R.; Jorgensen, James H.; Schuchat, Anne (May 2003). "Decline in Invasive Pneumococcal Disease after the Introduction of Protein–Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine". New England Journal of Medicine. 348 (18): 1737–1746. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa022823. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 12724479. Wikidata ()

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9279/images/43208_162028006056_0870-00284?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=llt332&_phstart=successSource&pId=32367884

2021-06-13-ancestry-com-marriage-certificate-anne-schuchat-43208-162028006056-0870-00284.jpg

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tl5WefMXIRSdLQ5nes5pgYHE9JBXrdeU/view?usp=sharing

Father - Michael A. Schuchat

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/michael-a-schuchat-lawyer-and-editor/2013/07/20/e4e0b88e-f168-11e2-a1f9-ea873b7e0424_story.html

2013-07-20-washington-post-michael-a-schuchat-obituary.pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u3_qQWAgTZFw-G3Bg2_F1QcCSn1TIAEm/view?usp=sharing

Michael A Schuchat, lawyer and editor

Correction: An earlier version of this obituary incorrectly reported that Mr. Schuchat received a law degree and a master’s degree in law from Yale University. He received those degrees from Georgetown University.

Michael A Schuchat, a lawyer who was also legal editor for 51 years of the Daily Washington Law Reporter, died July 5 at his home in Washington. He was 88.

The cause was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, said his daughter Dr. Anne Schuchat.

Mr. Schuchat practiced law in Washington for more than 40 years, beginning in the early 1950s. He relinquished his law office with the firm of Gottesman & Schuchat in 1990 but continued to represent clients for a decade, working from his home.

At the same time he practiced law, Mr. Schuchat was legal editor of the Daily Washington Law Reporter, retiring from that position in 2007.

Michael A Schuchat was born in Marlinton, W.Va., and grew up in Baltimore. He had no middle name and used the initial “A” without a period.

He enlisted in the Navy early in World War II and was sent to what now is Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and then to Yale University, where he graduated in the wartime class of 1945. He graduated from Georgetown University law school in 1950 and received a master’s degree in law, also from Georgetown, in 1956.

Mr. Schuchat was a law clerk to Judge Charles Fahy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and briefly had a private practice before being recalled to active duty with the Navy in the Korean War.

His avocations included walking on the Appalachian Trail, sections of which he helped maintain.

Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Dr. Molly Geiger Schuchat of Washington; five children, Simon Schuchat of Washington, Frank Schuchat of Denver, Betty McDonald of Bethesda, Dr. Anne Schuchat, a U.S. Public Health Service rear admiral of Atlanta, and Charles Schuchat of Chicago; two brothers, Theodor Schuchat of Seattle, and David G. Schuchat of Washington; five grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

https://www.press.org/newsroom/death-silver-owl-theodor-schuchat

2015-01-19-national-press-club-death-of-silver-own-theodor-schuchat.pdf

Death of Silver Owl Theodor Schuchat

Ken Dalecki

January 19, 2015

Theodor Schuchat, a journalist and 32-year member of the National Press Club, died Dec. 5 at his home in Seattle of heart failure. He was 91. Schuchat's dedication to writing prompted him to change his name, recalled his brother, David Schuchat, also a Club member. He dropped the "e" at the end of his first name and his middle initial "L" so that his byline would fit on stories he wrote as editor of his high school newspaper in Baltimore.

Schuchat was raised in Baltimore and was a graduate of The New School in New York City. He mixed his journalism career with government service, often freelancing during 32 years of work for various federal agencies. He had a longtime association with Nelson Rockefeller, for whom he worked in the early 1950's when Rockefeller was Under Secretary of the newly created Department of Health, Education and Welfare. He wrote speeches for Rockefeller and other political figures and drafted the 1964 Surgeon General's report on the health hazards of smoking.

Theodor Schuchat was a pioneer columnist for newspapers and magazines on aging, retirement and education issues. He was the author of several books, including "Planning the Rest of Your Life" and "Ulpan: How to Learn Hebrew in a Hurry." He was the first president of Temple Micah, a Washington synagogue he helped organize.

"He was very proud of being a member of the National Press Club," said his brother David Schuchat. He once had a office in the Press Building and would bring his sons to the Club on Saturdays to play pool.

He was drafted into the Army in 1942. David Schuchat said his brother "spent all his time in school" being trained on quickly evolving radar systems. He kept making the cut for higher training and World War II ended before he could be assigned to a post. He was a member of the the Club's American Legion Post 20.

Theordor Schuchat, who for many years maintained a home in Seattle, moved to that area permanently in 2005, after the death of his wife, Louise Gamble Harper.

UNCLE : theodor worked directly for Nelson Rockefeller !

https://books.google.com/books?id=BcQvAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=%22theodor+schuchat%22+%2B+%22rockefeller%22&source=bl&ots=I2ynA7Ie8b&sig=ACfU3U1kpCSlxDmAw9uFjX_10N5SIQDIXA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOvti1lpbxAhWSQzABHdeWD70Q6AEwEHoECBMQAw#v=onepage&q=%22theodor%20schuchat%22%20%2B%20%22rockefeller%22&f=false

schuchat's retirement mentioned :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dB9dV3N6gY

"Who is The Real Gene Genie?" Hypothetically Speaking, **Director's Cut: presented by John Cullen

Premiered Jun 9, 2021

John E Hoover

This analysis is not news. This is satire.

I am a parody of everything you see on TV, combined.

This is a comedic presentation, just like the Daily Show meets War of the Worlds.

At least 11 people think I am an idiot. Therefore, do not listen to me.. At all.

Lower your expectations, even lower, and pretend I'm funny....

The data I use might be accurate. Imagine if it was...

I do not give advice, and never have, other than ask YOUR doctor, and check the official web sites of the CDC, WHO and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

2021-06-09-youtube-john-e-hoover-who-is-the-real-genie-genie-1080p.mp4

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iL7nOAVhUoZ3BxT1grEVXmZJ6Y0bqWzJ/view?usp=sharing

2021-06-09-youtube-john-e-hoover-who-is-the-real-genie-genie-img-1.jpg

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ff_xSUFlZpKr42qXbrvzBny_TpoCw74b/view?usp=sharing

https://servicetoamericamedals.org/honorees/anne-schuchat-m-d/

2021-servicetoamericamedals-org-honorees-anne-schuchat-md-2021-finalist-career-achievement.pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zGwyYrVjzEn-qtBaKOMNYJ4Oxpr2Bg4v/view?usp=sharing

ANNE SCHUCHAT, M.D.

2021 FINALIST

PAUL A. VOLCKER CAREER ACHIEVEMENT

As one of the nation’s leading infectious disease experts, has led numerous high-profile and consequential disease outbreak investigations to protect public health and save countless lives.

In the 2011 thriller movie “Contagion,” a young disease detective played by Kate Winslet tries to convince skeptical government officials about the dangers of a deadly new virus that could be much more contagious than influenza or polio.

Winslet’s character was modeled after Dr. Anne Schuchat, now the principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who in late 2019 and in 2020 faced a similar real-life situation trying to alert political leaders and the public about the potential threat of an “unknown pneumonia” in Wuhan, China.

Schuchat is one of the nation’s leading infectious disease experts. “She’s our Anthony Fauci,” said Sherri Berger, the CDC’s chief operating officer, referring to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who has been a leading voice on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The actual Anthony Fauci said, “Anne has been through multiple outbreaks where she’s played a major role: H1N1, West Nile, Ebola, Zika and now COVID-19.”

“She has shown great consistency, a high level of competence and integrity, and has been an anchor at the CDC,” said Fauci, a 2020 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals award recipient. “She is very experienced, very measured…and universally respected, not only in the United States but throughout the entire global health community.”

During her 33-year career at the CDC, Schuchat rose from investigating disease outbreaks to becoming the top career official at the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta, serving twice as acting director.

Schuchat’s wide-ranging experience, including her work with the World Health Organization and with the fledgling Beijing CDC in 2003 to investigate the SARS epidemic, helped inform and guide her as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded.

In late December 2019, Schuchat was one of the first people in the U.S. to spot warning signs of the emerging COVID-19 outbreak in China. Although the news was increasingly alarming, she and the agency had trouble delivering that message to other government officials and the public.

As the months progressed, Schuchat and her colleagues were caught in the middle between the science and public health policy on one hand, and election-year politics on the other. The CDC was in many respects sidelined and its staff increasingly alarmed as the deadly virus spread throughout the country.

At the behest of the new CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, Schuchat conducted a thorough review and update of the agency’s COVID-19 documents to ensure that all of the agency’s pandemic guidance is science-based.

She noted that her work continues to focus on “COVID, COVID, COVID” as well as “earning back public trust by providing effective and practical information.” This included urging a close review of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in April after a small number of U.S. cases involved a rare and severe type of blood clot.

Earlier in her career, Schuchat discovered the source of a listeria outbreak among newborns in Costa Rica and helped prove that the bacteria causing the sometimes fatal disease could be transmitted through processed meat and other food. She also studied prevention of Group B strep, an infection that can be fatal to infants.

Both efforts led to changes in national policy that have saved lives, Berger said. The Department of Agriculture tightened restrictions on listeria in ready-to-eat meat despite strong industry opposition, and a national standard was developed for testing pregnant women to prevent Group B strep from being transmitted to their babies.

Schuchat also has played key roles in many CDC emergency responses, serving as the chief health officer during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic response and supporting the Washington, D.C., field team during the 2001 bioterrorist anthrax response. Globally, she worked in West Africa on meningitis, pneumonia and Ebola vaccine trials, and in South Africa on surveillance and prevention projects. She also has authored or co-authored more than 230 scientific articles, book chapters and reviews.

“Through her ingenuity, Anne has saved hundreds of thousands of lives,” said Dr. Richard Besser, the president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former CDC acting director. “She’s one of the most creative epidemiologists I’ve ever met.”

Schuchat is also known for mentoring younger scientists. “She guides emerging leaders because she not only cares about the people, but about the future of this agency and public health,” Berger said.

Dr. Elizabeth Hoo, Schuchat’s special assistant, said her boss has “a collaborative style, calm demeanor and optimism” that make her an effective leader. She said Schuchat is willing to tackle many tough problems, including issues of diversity and inclusion within the agency.

“She comes at it with humility and empathy and the willingness to listen to the idea of others and find ways to give everyone a voice and chart path forward,” said Hoo.

During the darkest days of the pandemic, colleagues said Schuchat took great pains to encourage and support the CDC staff. The new challenge, Schuchat said, is to reclaim the agency’s reputation as the world’s premier disease fighter and to go to work every day to solve problems.

“My role now is to be a steward for the agency by encouraging the next generation and by ensuring that we follow the highest quality standards to fulfill our pledge to the American people,” Schuchat said.

CDC veteran Anne Schuchat to resign in second high-level departure from agency

https://www.statnews.com/2021/05/17/cdc-veteran-anne-schuchat-to-resign-in-second-high-level-departure-from-agency/

2021-05-17-statnews-com-anne-schuchat-to-resign-2nd-highest-level-depature-from-agency.pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12U0snfbvTD15pbQtYZA2TZ4eSEyVj47z/view?usp=sharing

By Helen Branswell May 17, 2021

Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director of the CDC, is retiring from the agency.

SARAH SILBIGER/GETTY IMAGES

The principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Anne Schuchat, is retiring from the agency.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced the news Monday, saying Schuchat would be leaving the agency over the summer. The news was first reported by Politico.

“I have enormous gratitude for Dr. Schuchat’s leadership and contributions over three decades, and during this very challenging period for our country. I am especially thankful for her invaluable counsel, assistance and support in my transition into this role,” Walensky said in a statement. “I will remain forever grateful that our paths crossed, even for just a short while.”

Schuchat is the second high-profile official to leave the CDC this month; on May 7, the agency announced Nancy Messonnier, who had led CDC’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, was leaving. It was later announced she will be the executive director of the Skoll Foundation, a private philanthropy with a focus on preventing pandemics.

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Questions remain about the nature of Messonnier’s departure, with news reports that she’d been stripped of her role as the CDC’s liaison to the Biden administration’s pandemic response task force. But Schuchat’s resignation is being cast as a 33-year-veteran of the agency deciding it was time to leave.

In an interview with STAT, Schuchat, who is 61, said she’d been thinking of retirement for a while, but felt she could not leave the agency during a time of crisis. With increasing numbers of Americans vaccinated against Covid-19 and case rates and deaths in the country falling, she said she felt the right time had arrived.

“We’re certainly in the United States are in a much better position than we’ve been, really, since last spring. And the vaccination effort has really been extraordinary,” she said. “I feel so optimistic about CDC’s future and the nation’s public health system that this is the right time for me to move on.”

An internal medicine physician, Schuchat joined the CDC in 1988 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer — the famed disease detective training program the CDC has run for over 70 years. Many EIS officers, as they are known, remain with the CDC after their epidemiology training; Schuchat was one of them.

She was involved in the investigations of the 2001 anthrax attacks, the 2003 SARS outbreak, and the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. She served as the director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; Messonnier took over that role when Schuchat the CDC’s principal deputy director in 2015.

Schuchat also served two short stints as acting director of the CDC, at the beginning of the Trump administration before the appointment of Brenda Fitzgerald, and then after Fitzgerald left seven months later in a scandal about her purchase of tobacco stocks while heading the CDC.

Former director Tom Frieden, who appointed Schuchat to the agency’s No. 2 job, praised her for her contribution to the CDC.

“She is widely respected, and rightly so, for her profound dedication, incisive intelligence, and deep knowledge of public health,” he said via email.

Schuchat informed her staff and CDC senior management of her impending departure on Monday, saying she wanted to give people time to plan for the transition ahead.

As for her own plans, she said she is “looking forward to retirement, not another job” and hopes to develop some hobbies for which she hasn’t had the time during her decades at CDC.

“As a person who since childhood was planning to be a doctor … there were interests in my youth that maybe I’ll get back to… Some of the hobbies and stuff that I haven’t had time,” Schuchat said. “I’m going to go find out what those things are.”

NOTE - Uncle Theodore was writing magazine articles for FDA

https://www.newspapers.com/image/136536556/?terms=%22Schuchat%22&match=1

2010-04-26-newsweek-zoonoses-when-animal-diseases-attack.pdf

https://www.newsweek.com/zoonoses-when-animal-diseases-attack-70379

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r1ezxYiy_U7JnqV7-nXhOiJAHAUsOOKf/view?usp=sharing

NEWS

Zoonoses: When Animal Diseases Attack

BY CLAUDIA KALB ON 4/26/10 AT 8:00 PM EDT

One year ago this month, Dr. Anne Schuchat took the mike at one of the government's first press conferences about a worrisome new flu outbreak. Schuchat, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, was trying to clarify what public-health officials knew about a virus that had sickened patients in Mexico and the United States. No, this was not bird flu, Schuchat told reporters listening in by phone from around the country that +++April day in 2009 [[www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t090425.htm]]+++. That virus, technically known as H5N1, had been circulating since 1997, mainly in Asia. This was swine influenza, or, as it would soon be called, H1N1. "We're talking about a new virus," Schuchat said, "a combination of a couple of different components of swine, human, and bird influenza."

A cocktail of pig, bird, and human disease? That shouldn't sound as surprising as it does. As many as 75 percent of newly emerging infectious diseases in humans, including bird and swine flus, are "zoonoses," meaning they originate in animals. Other zoonotic killers include HIV/AIDS (transmitted to humans by wild African chimpanzees) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (bats). Even malaria, which was long thought to have evolved alongside humans, now appears to be zoonotic. After conducting genetic analyses, Nathan Wolfe, an infectious-disease expert at Stanford University, and colleagues reported last August that malaria started in chimps and jumped to humans sometime in the last 2 million to 3 million years. "This is a pattern we've seen for the origin of major diseases," says Wolfe, "and it's a pattern we're seeing for new pandemics."

This pattern has not, however, translated to adequate public-health preparation. One big reason: we're not looking hard enough for clues. A report published by the +++Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council [[www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12625]]+++ last September, at the height of the H1N1 pandemic, found that there is "no single example" in the U.S. or anywhere else of a well-functioning zoonotic disease surveillance system—despite the fact that outbreaks of these diseases are increasing and they can spread rapidly, thanks to international trade and travel. Instead, public-health officials tend to respond to outbreaks as they occur, which is neither smart nor economically sound medicine. Substantial numbers of people have died from worldwide pandemics over the last 50 years: H1N1 has killed at least 17,000 people in the last 12 months; more than 25 million have died from AIDS since 1981. Worldwide economic losses from species-crossing diseases: $200 billion over the past 10 years. "The disease-du-jour approach can't work," says Dr. Gerald Keusch, co-chair of the IOM report and professor of international health at Boston University's School of Public Health.

That approach prevails because of a longstanding split between medical disciplines. "We have absolutely failed to systematically and effectively connect the veterinary community with the human-health community," says Keusch. Classic example: West Nile virus. In 1999, when Tracey McNamara, then head pathologist at the Bronx Zoo in New York, called the CDC to report a potential link between sick birds and sick humans, she says a CDC official told her "there was no possible relationship between the two events."

It wasn't always so. In the 19th century, physicians frequently studied zoology, and physicians and veterinarians collaborated, says Dr. Laura Kahn, a physician and research scholar at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. But by the 20th century, medical schools had become highly specialized. Today, animal and human health are taught independently, and the disciplines are fragmented at the uppermost levels. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) focuses on human health, the Department of Agriculture on livestock. And while we have a CDC for people, says Kahn, there's no CDC for animals. "We need to start thinking more creatively," she says. "Animal health impacts human health."

The IOM report calls for change, including co-training between veterinarian and human-health experts. The government, increasingly aware of the importance of connecting the two, is investing in international surveillance. In November +++the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) [[www.usaid.gov]]+++ announced the launch of a $400 million, five-year Emerging Pandemic Threats program, with the goal of preempting or combating newly emerging animal diseases that pose a risk to human health. One major component is Predict, a project that focuses on improving wildlife surveillance. A host of wild animals, from chimps to bats, rodents, and birds, have transmitted viruses to humans, and yet wildlife has been largely understudied when compared with domesticated animals like pigs and cattle, says Predict director Stephen Morse, a pioneering expert in zoonoses at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. "We really don't understand the ecology of these diseases," says Morse. "I don't think we fully understand the magnitude of possibilities." Predict, he says, "begins the fulfillment of a longstanding dream, which is to better understand what's out there and how we can identify and anticipate the next AIDS before it happens."

Predict relies on pandemic warriors, and Nathan Wolfe is one of them. In 2008 he launched an aggressive surveillance program called the +++Global Viral Forecasting Initiative [[www.gvfi.org]]+++. GVFI, one of Predict's partners, operates in emerging infectious-disease hot spots, including Cameroon, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Laos, Madagascar, and Malaysia, where scientists are working hard to build local surveillance systems. Public-health officials in these locales teach hunters to collect blood from their prey, and they also screen hunters and other high-risk individuals, including those who work in live-animal markets, for viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Wolfe's hope is that if a new microorganism appears in both humans and animals, the public-health community and local governments can work together to stop a novel disease before it hopscotches around the globe. "These are not just random occurrences," says Wolfe. "There are ways we can more accurately predict pandemics and ways we can alter human behaviors to try to decrease their frequency. We're actively out there doing that work."

Global disease control requires awareness, money, and political will and commitment from governments and both the human- and animal-health communities. Various groups, including the Wildlife Conservation Society, have launched +++programs [[www.oneworldonehealth.org]]+++ under the banner of a movement broadly referred to as One Health, which is aimed at spotlighting the problem, fostering collaboration among disciplines, and, ultimately, saving lives. Kahn is beating the drum through a group called the +++One Health Initiative [[www.onehealthinitiative.com]]+++, and last fall, a summit co-hosted in Washington by the National Academies and an organization called the ++One Health Commission [[www.onehealthcommission.org]]+++ gathered public-health officials, veterinary-medicine experts, and government higher-ups to tackle the challenges.

Which brings us back to H1N1. One year out, the disease hasn't been as lethal as some health officials feared. But it did hijack public-health attention and critical resources. The fast-tracked vaccine production, the jostling for scarce inoculations last fall, the school shutdowns—what if all that could have been avoided? That might have been possible, says Marguerite Pappaioanou, co-chair of the IOM report and executive director of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. The virus had been circulating in swine for a number of years and probably jumped undetected to humans sometime in 2008 or early 2009, she says. Had there been better surveillance of disease in swine workers and immediate recognition of the first human case, control efforts could have been put into place earlier to prevent it from infecting others, she says, "thereby helping to prevent a pandemic." What a different year it might have been.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/why-did-dr-nancy-messonnier-leave-the-cdc_3839614.html

2021-06-03-theepochtimes-com-why-did-dr-nancy-messonnier-leave-the-cdc-cant-see-without-subscription.pdf

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2021-06-03-theepochtimes-com-why-did-dr-nancy-messonnier-leave-the-cdc-text-only.txt

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Why Did Dr. Nancy Messonnier Leave the CDC?

Messonnier deflected questions on China’s role in the pandemic

Lloyd Billingsley

June 1, 2021 Updated: June 3, 2021

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Last November, Biden advisers called for Dr. Nancy Messonnier, a career official at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to take a central role in briefings on the pandemic, a move aimed at elevating science and restoring public trust in the CDC. That never happened, and recent CDC moves have left observers puzzled.

In April, the CDC reassigned Dr. Messonnier from her longtime position as director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). Then in early May, Messonnier suddenly resigned from the CDC and declined to explain the reason.

On May 7, David Lim of Politico asked CDC director Rochelle Walensky, “Can you explain why she [Messonnier] was reassigned two weeks ago, away from the agency’s COVID-19 vaccine taskforce? And why is she now leaving the CDC?”

“Dr. Messonnier has been a true hero,” Walensky replied, “And through her career, in terms of public health, she’s been a steward of public health for the nation. Over this pandemic and through a many-decade career, she’s made significant contributions, and she leaves behind a strong, strong force of leadership and courage in all that she’s done.”

Why Messonnier left the CDC remained a mystery, but her work was a matter of record.

On Jan. 17, 2020, Messonnier mentioned “the outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan City, China, which has been identified as being caused by a novel coronavirus.” It was “a serious situation,” and she cautioned about travel to and from Wuhan. In a Jan. 24 briefing, Messonnier said “we expect [to] find more cases of novel coronavirus in the United States associated with the ongoing and expanding outbreak in Wuhan, China,” but “the immediate risk to the U.S. public is low at this time.”

Politico reporter Sarah Owermohle asked, “What kind of dialogue are you guys having with Chinese health authorities?” As for the source of the novel coronavirus, “if there is any inkling of where it is coming from?” Messonnier was all over it.

“CDC has a team that’s been in China for many years where we work closely with the Department of Health in China,” she said. “I think we should be clear to compliment the Chinese on the early recognition of the respiratory outbreak center in the Wuhan market, and how rapidly they were able to identify it as a novel coronavirus.”

In a Jan. 29, 2020 CDC telebriefing, Messonnier gave “an update on the ongoing 2019 novel coronavirus situation in the United States.” The CDC was screening passengers from Wuhan and Messonnier confirmed that the CDC would be part of a World Health Organization (WHO) “mission” in China.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar speaks during a press conference on the coordinated public health response to the 2019 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28, 2020. (L-R) CDC Director Robert Redfield, Secretary Alex Azar, NCIRD Director Nancy Messonnier, and NIAID Director Anthony Fauci. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

In a Jan. 30, 2020 telebriefing, Messonnier told reporters the CDC does not currently recommend wearing face masks “for this new virus.” Messonnier did not reveal how she knew it was a “new virus” or how it is differed from others. The WHO mission to China was “good news” and “there’s much to learn from there.”

In her Feb. 3, 2020 telebriefing, Messonnier mentioned five additional infections from the “novel coronavirus,” with four linked to Wuhan travel. The State Department, “is bringing more people back from Wuhan,” greeted by CDC teams at Department of Defense locations. On Feb. 5, reporters asked about individuals returning from Wuhan. Messonnier said that was “not something that I’m at liberty to talk about today” but did not reveal which U.S. official laid down the restriction, or why.

In her Feb. 12, 2020 CDC telebriefing, Messonnier said most of the U.S. cases were “found before the travel restrictions” from Wuhan were put in place. “We should be prepared for this new virus to gain a foothold in the U.S.,” she said, and “at some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S.”

In her Feb. 25, 2020 CDC telebriefing, Messonnier told reporters, “It’s not a question of if this will happen but when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illnesses.” That triggered a question from Craig Fiegener of KNX Radio in Los Angeles.

“Is the Chinese government leveling with you?” Fiegener wanted to know. “Are they telling you the truth? Have they given you the straight dope, so to speak, as to what you need to know about the coronavirus?”

“In terms of the Chinese government,” Messonnier responded, “there has been a WHO team on the ground in China as well in Wuhan. There are data coming out from those efforts. We have a lot of information from China.” She did not reveal any information “from China,” and offered no judgment on the truthfulness of WHO data.

In a March 9, 2020 CDC telebriefing, Messonnier said, “There is risk of being exposed and getting sick from this virus and there is risk of getting very sick or dying from illness with this virus. This virus is capable of spreading easily and sustainably from person to person based on the available data. The report of the World Health Organization mission to China describes the virus as being highly contagious. And there’s essentially no immunity against this virus in the population because it’s a new virus.”

Once again, none of the reporters asked Messonnier how she knew it was a “new virus” capable of spreading easily and causing people to get sick and die. Tom Howell of the Washington Times asked about the link between travelers from China and coronavirus cases in Washington State.

“I think that’s an interesting hypothesis,” Messonnier said. “But another hypothesis is that a secondary seeding of the community and the strain causing the more recent cases in Washington state matches [the] sequences that have been posted from China.” On the other hand, there were “alternate explanations of the same findings” on which Messonnier did not elaborate.

After that briefing, Messonnier faded from public view. And after the election, she never returned to prominence. By the time of her reassignment in April, 2021, evidence was mounting that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was the most likely origin of the new virus.

The WIV received shipments of deadly pathogens from a lab in Canada and funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Dr. Anthony Faucirecently told reporters he is “not convinced” that COVID-19 developed naturally, and now claims to welcome an investigation of China’s role in the pandemic. Any serious investigation should take account of Messonnier, who on Jan. 24, 2020, cited the “Wuhan market,” not the WIV, as the center of the “new virus” outbreak.

What did Messonnier know? When did she know it? What did she do about it? Why did she defer questions on China to the WHO? Did China ever do anything with which she or the CDC disagreed? Who told her she was “not at liberty” to discuss issues about Wuhan? What is Messonnier’s current understanding of the “new virus,” and did the WIV play a role in its development?

A new study contends Chinese scientists created COVID-19 in a lab then reverse engineered it to appear natural. What does Messonnier think about that, and how does it square with what she said in 2020? Investigators might also pose questions to Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

If Dr. Nancy Messonnier is a “true hero,” then why did the CDC remove her from her position? Why did she leave the CDC in May, and what is she doing now? Is the CDC trying to hide something? So many questions. The American people, who suffered so much from the “new virus,” have a right to know.

Lloyd Billingsley is the author of “Yes I Con: United Fakes of America,” “Barack ‘em Up: A Literary Investigation,” “Hollywood Party,” and other books. His articles have appeared in many publications, including Frontpage Magazine, City Journal, The Wall Street Journal, and American Greatness. Billingsley serves as a policy fellow with the Independent Institute.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

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