The National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases

Description

The National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) works to protect people from domestic and global public health threats including antibiotic-resistant infections, foodborne outbreaks, emerging diseases, and zoonotic infectious diseases—diseases that spread between animals and people—such as Ebola, salmonella, Zika, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Use of Funds

Funding supports the development of diagnostic tools and the investigation of, and response to, disease outbreaks, which includes surveillance, infection control, vaccine delivery, and health care worker training.

Justification

• Globally, zoonotic infectious diseases sicken 2.5 billion people and kill 2.7 million people every year.
• In 2021, NCEZID supported efforts to stop Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea by:
  • Providing technical assistance for epidemiologic investigations, contact tracing, laboratory testing, and vaccination.
  • Rolling out rapid diagnostic testing programs for post-mortem surveillance.
• In early 2022, NCEZID helped fight the spread of COVID-19 by investing $42.6 billion in health departments to support testing and modernize data reporting and lab equipment.