Staff Reports
The head honcho at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped some knowledge on those folks up on Capitol Hill this week. Dr. Mandy Cohen told a bunch of lawmakers that the spike in cases of the sniffles in China ain’t because of some newfangled virus like the one that caused all that chaos back in 2019. Nope, she reckons it’s just the run-of-the-mill stuff like the flu, some bacteria, and other known baddies.
CDC director: Sources in China say new outbreaks are from known pathogens https://t.co/JOoWZn1Pn0
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 30, 2023
Ol’ Mandy mentioned that the CDC keeps an eye on things in China and has been chit-chatting with the bigwigs over there to stay in the know. She made it clear that she doesn’t think this is some fancy new problem, but rather the same old culprits like COVID, flu, RSV, and Mycoplasma having a little shindig.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has been hounding China for details about the sudden surge in snuffles up north. Just like Dr. Cohen, they reckon it’s the usual suspects causing the ruckus, like a bacteria called Mycoplasma pneumoniae and the good ol’ seasonal flu and RSV.
Now, some of them politicians in the good ol’ U.S. of A. ain’t takin’ nobody’s word for it, especially not the Chinese government. They remember when China tried to sweep that whole COVID mess under the rug and caused a whole heap of trouble. Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana wants to make sure the CDC is keepin’ an eye on them commies, and he’s got his eye on the Biden administration too, makin’ sure they don’t go barking up the wrong tree.
Folks in the House Energy and Commerce Committee are demandin’ to be kept in the loop about what’s goin’ on in China, and they ain’t about to just take the WHO’s word for it. They want regular updates, and they want to make sure the CDC ain’t slackin’ off when it comes to keepin’ the American people safe.
Dr. Cohen didn’t just talk about China, though. She spoke to them lawmakers about all sorts of nasty bugs that could be lurkin’ around the corner, like COVID-19, avian influenza, and other nasties like polio, malaria, and even Ebola. She made it clear that the CDC needs to have all the tools and all the bucks it needs to stay on top of these threats, and she ain’t too happy about them budget plans that could put a wrench in the works.
So, it looks like the CDC is keepin’ an eye on them sneezes and wheezes over in China, and the politicians in D.C. are makin’ sure they stay on top of things. There may not be a new bug on the block, but it looks like there’s still plenty to keep an eye on.
