What Ails The CDC

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Perhaps the most immediate problem is the number of senior-level people who are leaving. Part of that is an unavoidable function of aging--40% of the CDC's 9,000 employees will be eligible to retire in 2008. But there's also speculation that older scientists are being pushed to leave early. Either way, "you don't replace the experts at CDC easily," says Robert Keegan, deputy director of the agency's Global Immunization Division. "Management has said they've enacted better emergency standards, but until there's an emergency, you don't know."

State and local public-health officials are keeping a close eye on all the drama. "The most difficult organization in the world to change is a successful organization [like the CDC]," says Paul Halverson of the Arkansas department of health and human services. "If you're a company that is losing money every month, then it's easy to see the need to make a change." Of course, in this case, it's not just money but lives that are at stake.