CDC chief urges focus on health threats as agency confronts political changes

CDC director Dr. Mandy Cohen speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in New York, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The outgoing head of the nation’s top public health agency urged the next administration to maintain its focus and funding to keep Americans safe from emerging health threats.

“We need to continue to do our global work at CDC to make sure we are stopping outbreaks at their source,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. “We need to keep that funding up. We need to keep the expertise up. We need to keep the diplomacy up.”

Cohen, 46, will be leaving office in January after about 18 months in the job. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday night said he picked Dave Weldon, a former Congressman from Florida, to be the agency’s next chief.