News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – State and local public health laboratories have improved their ability to identify and report infectious disease and chemical threats, and health departments are making steady progress in readiness planning, such as deploying medicines and other supplies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report today.

(CIDRAP News) – State and local health departments have significantly improved their readiness for public health emergencies in the past few years, with laboratory capacity and emergency operations centers leading the list of improved areas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a major report released today.

By Craig W. Hedberg, PhDUniversity of Minnesota

Editor's Note: This commentary is a follow-up to "Commentary: Blame the public health system for prolonging listeriosis outbreak," published Oct 9, 2002.