This report publishes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic affects all Americans daily. The Center for Global Health (CGH) is focused on responding to COVID-19 in the United States (US) and abroad.
CGH brings resources and knowledge built through partnership with other nations to fulfill our mission to improve the health, safety, and security of Americans and reduce morbidity and mortality worldwide.
This report highlights how CDC’s Center for Global Health Responds to Outbreaks—including how CGH is drawing on existing capacities developed overseas in partnership with other nations to address COVID-19.
The report describes how programs within the Center for Global Health are adapting to the pandemic to continue addressing long-standing global infectious disease threats. An infectious disease threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere.
While CGH is laser-focused on the current global pandemic, the work to monitor and respond to additional global health threats must continue to
prepare for an unknown but inevitable next pandemic.
Outbreaks around the world
CDC Responds over 1,440 deployments 45,000 cumulative days field support in more than 85 countries.
United States: Cyclospora CGH’s parasitic diseases program addresses parasitic infections in the United States and abroad. More than 1,200 cases were reported in 2020 in the United States.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ebola. Between August 2018 and June 2020, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) experienced the second largest Ebola outbreak in history, and the 10th outbreak for DRC.
Pakistan: HIV In April 2019, fifteen children living in the city of Ratodero, were diagnosed with HIV. The response strategy focused on HIV testing and identified an additional 900 people living with HIV; 80% were children under the age of 15 years.
Measles In 2019, the highest number of cases and deaths of measles worldwide was reported in over 10 years, and global outbreaks resulted in importation to the United States. CGH deployed responders to provide technical assistance for measles outbreak investigations in eight countries—Ukraine, Mauritania, Nigeria, DRC, South Sudan, Madagascar, Samoa, and Tonga.
Mozambique: Cyclones and Cholera. In 2019, two powerful cyclones made landfall in Mozambique. The government of Mozambique, FETP graduates, and CDC’s in country office staff and GRRT responders pivoted to address the aftermath of both cyclones including aftermath cholera outbreaks that resulted in 7,000 confirmed cholera cases and eight deaths.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries with wild poliovirus type 1 transmission. In Afghanistan, 41 cases were reported during Jan. – July 2020 compared to 15 during the same period in 2019. In Pakistan, 72 cases were reported as of Sept. 2020 and 147 cases in 2019, compared to just 12 reported in 2018.
