At a glance
Career Epidemiology Field Officers (CEFOs) are CDC epidemiologists with experience in surveillance, epidemiology, preparedness, research, training, and policy development. Their mission is to strengthen state, tribal, local, and territorial epidemiology capacity for public health preparedness and response.
What is a CEFO?
A CEFO is a mid- to senior-level CDC epidemiologist assigned to a state, local, or territorial health department to help strengthen its epidemiologic capacity and public health preparedness. Prior to these assignments, CEFOs have completed CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) training program or have comparable training and experience.
Who are CEFOs?
CEFOs are clinically or scientifically trained professionals with expertise in disaster epidemiology and surveillance, public health preparedness, research, and training.
What is the National CEFO Network?
The national CEFO network supports the emergency preparedness and response activities of every state, territory, and locality directly funded by the CDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Cooperative Agreement.
How are CEFO positions supported?
CDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) funding is used to support CEFOs. When fully implemented, the national network will include 56 CEFOs centrally funded by CDC.
What are the Benefits of Having a CEFO?
The COVID-19 response and other public health emergencies have clearly demonstrated that having trained and dedicated CDC field staff is critical to enhance jurisdictional response capacity and to assure bidirectional communication with, and situational awareness for, CDC.
What is the Role of a CEFO?
- Enhance and expand state and local surveillance systems to improve health monitoring
- Conduct outbreak investigations and response activities
- Develop public health workforce by mentoring and supervising current EIS officers and other trainees
- Lead community assessments for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery
- Develop response plans for major public health emergencies
- Serve on emergency response teams and lead select health department planning and response activities
- Lead or participate in federal, state, or local emergency response exercises
- Build partnerships among government agencies and other organizations to advance emergency preparedness