he official name of the CDC is the Centers for Disease Control “and Prevention.” Tasked with prevention of disease is an agency that does not appear in the CDC’s flow chart, the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS). According to the CDC:
EIS officers are CDC’s disease detectives who learn from and work alongside subject matter experts while providing service to domestic and international partner…
Worn-out shoe leather with a prominent hole worn through has been a recurring visual theme of EIS through the decades, a reference to the practice of EIS officers personally investigating disease outbreaks at the local population level, in all parts of the world…
EIS has a 75-year history of success in training disease detectives. EIS officers step up at a moment’s notice to investigate public health threats in the United States and around the world. From the Smallpox Eradication Program in the 1960s to the measles outbreak in 2025, EIS officers are called on to protect people and save lives…
A notable omission is the COVID pandemic from 2020-2023, which raises questions about CDC and EIS leadership. Consider Dr. Anne Schuchat, who began her CDC career with the EIS in 1988 and is thought to be the model for Dr. Erin Mears, Kate Winslet’s character in Contagion, from 2011.
In 2016, Schuchet became the first head of the CDC’s “National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). From January 20-July 7, 2017 and January 31-March 26 in 2018 Schuchet served as acting CDC director — without confirmation by the U.S. Senate. CDC Chief Operating Officer Sherri Burger called Schuchat “our Anthony Fauci.” A government bureaucrat since 1968, Fauci was never once confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Hellbound and Down 