The sudden departures of five top officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has rocked the public health community, with leading experts and organizations warning it may leave the United States unprepared for future outbreaks and pandemics.

In a single day, four key leaders of the CDC announced they would step down from their positions, following the ouster of CDC Director Susan Monarez, just weeks after her confirmation.

“These are uncharted waters,” said a senior CDC official during a Thursday all-hands meeting of the agency’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).

“But we will do our best to navigate, to move forward, to do the work that we think needs to be done in the way that it needs to be done.”

The departures leave the C

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