June 26 marked CDC’s escalation of its Congo Ebola response to Level 1—the agency’s highest emergency status—after the outbreak topped 1,100 confirmed cases and was described internally as likely to last months.
Bhattacharya told staff the activation requires substantial staffing and hard choices on which routine programs to defer, with Level 1 responses typically assigning the largest possible workforce around the clock.
More than 3,200 net CDC jobs were lost last year, while only 176 hires have been made since the second Trump administration began, leaving employees describing the agency as “running on fumes.”
50% of surveyed staff in the disease center leading the response rated morale low, and nearly 40% cited staffing or budget as their main concern as CDC also juggles measles, polio and other responses.
About 2,750 employees were enrolled in CDCReady as of July 2024, but post-deployment time-off awards have been suspended by HHS, complicating efforts to recruit and retain frontline responders.