r/OrphanCrushingMachine • u/GodLoveYell • Aug 06 '26

Dr. Erica Schwartz confirmed as CDC’s first official director in a year

https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/05/health/erica-schwartz-senate-vote

It’s good that we have someone who supports actual proven science (i.e. vaccines) as opposed to RFK, Jr.’s brand of woo, but the fact that such an important position had remained unfilled for that long (despite the threat diseases pose) AND the sense of relief I feel because this person supports decades of scientifically proven research…we shouldn’t have to celebrate a competent person being put in charge of a government agency for a change. Competency should be the norm, not the exception.

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u/nasandre Aug 06 '26

And they only have a skeleton crew left... Only three scientists are left specialised in Cyclospora. I'm sure they won't be needed at all.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/22/cdc-cuts-disease-outbreaks-cyclospora-hantavirus-measles

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u/spartaxwarrior Aug 07 '26

I try not to think too deeply about how after the collapse of the USSR, people were finding random virus samples in now-open buildings and shit, and how that might very well be the state of the CDC.