Our Topics

Modern health care requires effective antibiotic and antifungal drugs to save lives. Yet, any time antibiotics and antifungals are used in people, animals, and crops, it can lead to antimicrobial resistance. Each year in the United States, an estimated 2.8 million people become infected with antimicrobial-resistant germs and more than 35,000 people die as a result of these infections. When Clostridioides difficile—a germ that is not typically antimicrobial-resistant but can cause deadly diarrhea and is associated with antibiotic use—is added, the annual U.S. toll of antimicrobial resistance exceeds 3 million infections and 48,000 deaths. CDC is a leader in the fight against this urgent, global public health threat.

Infections can sometimes leave people with symptoms that last for weeks to months or longer, even after appropriate treatment. These symptoms can follow many different types of infections, including COVID-19, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus. By looking across the infections known to cause chronic symptoms, we can learn more about how often and why they occur, as well as how to diagnose and treat them.

Germs that cause serious diseases like Ebola, anthrax, rabies, and smallpox, also called "high-consequence pathogens," require expert oversight. We place a high priority on understanding and tracking these diseases domestically and globally. We operate state-of-the-art laboratories to identify, investigate, and prevent their spread. NCEZID scientists also investigate unexplained illnesses and deaths. This work has led to the identification of new infectious diseases like SARS and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Each year about 1 in 6 people get sick from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die. Many different germs, chemicals, and other agents can contaminate foods. Raw foods of animal origin are the most likely to be contaminated (like meat, eggs, and milk). While certain foods are more likely to make you sick, any food can get contaminated in the field, during processing, or during other stages in the food production chain.

Fungal diseases are increasing worldwide and antifungal resistance is increasing. With very few antifungal medications available, some patients face few options for treatment. Fungal diseases are also commonly misdiagnosed leading to potentially life-threatening treatment delays. Changes in the environment may increase the areas where some types of disease-causing fungi live as well as the emergence of new fungal diseases. Although fungal diseases can affect anyone, they are especially dangerous for people with weakened immune systems.

Modern health care uses many types of invasive devices and procedures to treat patients and to help them recover. Infections can be associated with central lines, catheters, ventilators, and surgery sites. On any given day, about 1 in 31 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection. These are a major, but preventable, threat to patient safety. Preventing these infections protects patients, including from antimicrobial-resistant infections and sepsis.

Spread by the bite of an infective mosquito or other insects, or perhaps from eating contaminated food or passed from a mother to her baby, parasitic and neglected tropical diseases are responsible for an enormous global burden of illness, disability, and death. CDC is the world's safety net in the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases—providing expertise in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation to states, countries, U.S. government and public health partners. Additionally, CDC conducts vital research to improve public health programs, including the development and evaluation of new pharmacologic, epidemiologic, laboratory, and vector control tools.

More than a million people travel to the United States each day. Americans are on the go, too, taking about 87 million international trips each year. With that much global migration and movement, it's important that people are healthy when they travel to prevent the spread of contagious diseases and to protect the communities they visit and join. Our work plays a major role in keeping globally mobile populations healthy and preventing outbreaks of contagious diseases in other countries from spreading into the United States.

Everyone is vulnerable to diseases spread by infected ticks or insects (e.g., mosquitoes, fleas), also called vectors. Certain groups of people are more likely to develop severe disease, such as older adults and those who have weakened immune systems. Global travel and trade, changing land use patterns like reforestation, and a changing climate are driving the emergence and increased spread of vector-borne diseases, putting more people at greater risk. These diseases can be difficult to prevent and control, particularly since few vaccines are available.

The United States has high standards for the safety of its water resources for drinking, recreation, and other uses. However, there are ongoing and new challenges for preventing waterborne diseases and outbreaks. About 7.2 million Americans get sick -- and 6,000 die -- every year from diseases spread through water. Globally, improved and sustained access to safe water can help improve the health and productivity of people around the world.

NCEZID's Office of Advanced Molecular Detection (OAMD) leads the agency's efforts to develop and expand the use of new genomic sequencing technologies that improve the way we address public health across the United States. These new technologies have transformed the way that CDC and public health departments detect, investigate, treat, and prevent infectious diseases. With AMD technology, we can better track foodborne outbreaks to find the source and prevent new illnesses; understand how hepatitis is moving through a community and focus prevention efforts; and identify new disease variants to inform treatment and immunization decisions. OAMD collaborates with public health, academic and private sector partners to drive innovation, develop new technologies and tools, and train professionals who work in communities across the national to protect the health of all Americans.

In today's highly connected world, emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases are a growing threat in the United States and globally. The number of outbreaks is increasing, the spread of disease is accelerating, and the associated morbidity and mortality are rising. NCEZID is at the forefront of critical global health security efforts.

NCEZID is home to CDC's One Health Office, which recognizes that the health of people is connected to the health of animals and the environment. More than half of all infections that people can get are zoonotic, or spread between animals and people. One Health issues include emerging, re-emerging, and endemic zoonotic diseases, neglected tropical diseases, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and food security, environmental contamination, climate change and other health threats shared by people, animals, and the environment. A One Health approach encourages collaborative efforts of many experts working across animal, human, and environmental health sectors. NCEZID uses and promotes a One Health approach to improve the health of people, animals, and our environment.