Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains how the CDC is partnering with global organizations to proactively act on the Zika virus.
Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability):
“We are working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and I think the way of thinking about this is within the normal concentric circles that we have—lots of parts of the CDC working together. We are working across the federal government on our whole of government response. We are working closely with state and local health departments, especially in those jurisdictions that have the mosquito vector and especially those jurisdictions that have had local transmission of Dengue or Chikungunya which are transmitted by the same Aedes aegypti mosquito. That work is going on, on the domestic front.
We are working with ministries of health and the Pan American Health Organization that is the Western Hemisphere branch of WHO. A lot of that work is trying to understand the problem, [performing] scientific studies and coordination with the ministries of health on measures that they can take to control the spread of the disease. And, then, coordinating with WHO on things like travel guidance.”
