As hantavirus outbreak unfolds, the CDC is missing in action, experts say. 'I'm very sorry to say that we are not prepared' | Fortune

"“We seem to have things under very good control,” President Donald Trump told reporters Friday evening. But experts say the situation has not spiraled because, unlike COVID-19 or measles or the flu, hantavirus does not spread easily. It has been experts in other countries, not the United States, who have been dealing primarily with the outbreak in the past week."

"“The CDC is not even a player,” said Lawrence Gostin, an international public health expert at Georgetown University. “I've never seen that before.” The CDC's diminished role in this outbreak is an indicator the agency is no longer the force in international health or the protector of domestic health that it once was, some experts said."

"“a sentinel event” that speaks to “how well the country is prepared for a disease threat. And right now, I'm very sorry to say that we are not prepared,” said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, chief executive officer of the Infectious Diseases Society of America."

"Early last month, a 70-year-old Dutch man developed a feverish illness on a cruise ship traveling from Argentina to Antarctica and some islands in the South Atlantic. He died less than a week later. More people became sick, including the man's wife and a German woman, who both died. Hantavirus was first identified as a cause of sickness of one of the cases on May 2."

A hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship involving Americans has drawn global attention, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has played a limited role. Experts criticized the lack of rapid deployment of disease investigators, public communication, and timely health alerts to doctors. They said the outbreak has not escalated as severely as COVID-19, measles, or flu because hantavirus does not spread easily. International experts and the World Health Organization handled much of the early response. The diminished CDC involvement is viewed as evidence of reduced capacity in international health and domestic protection. The event is described as a warning sign of inadequate preparedness for disease threats.

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