The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is boosting its support for infectious disease tracking and prevention through a $200 million award to the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases cooperative agreement that will enhance the abilities of states, cities, counties, and territories to "prevent, detect, respond to, and control" the growing threats of infectious diseases.
"State programs are the foundation of the U.S. public health system and are integral to the nation's efforts to combat infectious disease threats. CDC and states work together to improve local surveillance, laboratory diagnostic capabilities, and outbreak response," the CDC said.
First, $77 million of the CDC funds will go to state health departments to fight local antibiotic-resistant threats.
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The agency is also enhancing its Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network to boost communication when already-known or emerging threats are detected. Specifically, the AR Lab Network is increasing testing for the fungus Candida, known to be drug-resistant in order to prevent its spreading further.
Second, the CDC is adding a new national tuberculosis laboratory, known as The National TB Molecular Surveillance Center, which will perform DNA sequencing of tuberculosis bacteria gathered from newly diagnosed patients in the United States. This sequencing technology can help identify new public health interventions and new antibiotic-resistant TB strains. TB is the world's leading infectious disease killer, with an estimated 1.8 million deaths each year, the CDC said.
The agency will also use whole genome sequencing to detect drug-resistant gonorrhea threats. This type of tracking will identify when and how drug-resistant strains emerge and spread, potentially leading to a faster outbreak response and will also help clinicians treat patients more effectively.
The $77 million will also be used to continue to the work of PulseNet, the national laboratory network that connects foodborne illness cases to detect outbreaks, and all 50 states, six large cities and Puerto Rico will keep testing for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, known as CRE, another deadly germ resistant to nearly all antibiotics.
Beyond testing for drug resistant bacteria, the CDC will use $124 million to boost testing for influenza as well as parasitic and tick-borne diseases, West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne illnesses and food and waterborne diseases.
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They will implement local, state, and territorial health coordinators to track vaccine-preventable illnesses like measles and pertussis, and help states build their capacity for Advanced Molecular Detection, which uses genomic sequencing with bioinformatics to identify and respond to disease outbreaks.
The funds will be used to enhance laboratory infrastructure with new diagnostic and communication technologies, and support continued efforts to combat Zika and its related birth defects.
Twitter: @BethJSanborn