By Julie Steenhuysen and Chad Terhune
Feb 24 (Reuters) - A dozen public health experts are arriving in South Carolina to help the state contain the largest U.S. measles outbreak in more than 30 years, but they're not coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The South Carolina Department of Public Health told Reuters it has requested personnel from the nonprofit CDC Foundation instead. The foundation is an independent entity created by Congress to support the CDC through charitable contributions and grants from individuals, corporations and other organizations.
Dr. Linda Bell, South Carolina's epidemiologist, said the foundation will provide at least 12 infectious disease experts to work full-time in the state for several months, "increasing our capacity for case investigation, contact tracing and data management." Some staff began working with South Carolina last week, according to the foundation, and more are scheduled to start next week.
The foundation is typically used as an auxiliary group to bolster the CDC response to an outbreak, but does not usually replace CDC staff, three former agency officials said. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, the CDC has faced a diminished role and has been without a permanent director since August.
In South Carolina, childhood immunization rates have declined in recent years as local political leaders and parents criticized the CDC's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and pushed back against COVID-related lockdowns and vaccine mandates. Amid the current measles outbreak, South Carolina's Republican governor, Henry McMaster, has championed personal choice on vaccines.
Seeking assistance from the CDC Foundation "may be much more politically palatable than asking CDC to help," said Dan Jernigan, former director of the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
In response to a large measles outbreak in Texas last year, a CDC official said the agency had deployed at least 15 personnel to assist state health officials. The CDC Foundation said Texas didn't request additional support.
Bell told Reuters the CDC generally provides scientists and medical officers for brief deployments of a few weeks. "This level of expertise does not necessarily fulfill our needs for support for daily job functions," she said.
South Carolina's measles outbreak has quickly become the nation's largest since 1992 with 973 cases reported as of Friday. At least 20 adults and children have been hospitalized.
During previous major outbreaks, the federal government has led the charge to encourage widespread vaccination and coordinate efforts among states to curb the spread of disease.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a history of anti-vaccine activism, has not made any major statements regarding the measles outbreak in South Carolina.
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it sent $1.4 million last month to South Carolina to aid in its measles response.
HHS in a statement said the "CDC continues to investigate transmission patterns and work closely with South Carolina health officials, including through regular coordination meetings," adding: "Vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent measles."
FOUNDATION ASSIST FOLLOWS FUNDING CUTS
Last year, South Carolina's public health department lost about $100 million in federal funding when HHS cut billions of dollars in COVID-era grants nationwide. Some of those federal grants supported childhood immunizations and laboratory testing for infectious diseases in South Carolina, according to the state.
Bell told Reuters that "CDC crisis response funds" were used to hire some temporary staff to conduct case investigations and perform other outbreak-related activities. She also credited the CDC with providing assistance with testing, clinical advice and free vaccines.
When asked whether state officials directed the public health department not to request CDC personnel, Bell said her agency determined its staffing needs and that the CDC Foundation option best serves those needs.
Overall, there are about 90 public health department staff spending a majority of their time on the outbreak response, according to Bell.
She said local staff are better suited when it comes to persuading residents to get vaccinated. "CDC cannot provide staff well known to the impacted community," she said.
The CDC Foundation said it would provide "12 public health professionals for a short-term surge" that could last up to six to eight months. The foundation said it is funding epidemiologists and data analysts who can help strengthen disease surveillance and accelerate case investigation.
The CDC's last permanent director, Susan Monarez, was fired in August after a series of clashes with Kennedy over vaccine policy and dismissal of senior CDC staff. Last week, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya was also named acting director of the CDC.
At a press briefing last week, Bell said it was encouraging that the number of new cases being reported in South Carolina had slowed. However, she warned, "we are not out of the woods."
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Chad Terhune in Los Angeles; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
