The CDC Attack: Safety First

The CDC motto – Safer, Healthier People – must start with respect and protection of CDC staff

Last Friday, a gunman attacked the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the nation’s health protection agency.

The shooter fired nearly 500 rounds — about 200 struck CDC buildings and a guard shack. No CDC staff, and none of the children at the childcare on site, suffered physical harm. But DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, age 33, died in the line of duty. He leaves behind a wife who is pregnant and two children. I cried when I Iistened to his police academy graduation speech, in which he said: “Responsibility is exactly what this job demands…Policing isn’t just about enforcing the law. It’s about protecting the vulnerable, standing for justice, and being the person who runs toward danger when others run away…. We are stronger together.”

We mourn Officer Rose. We honor his courage. We stand with his family, friends, and colleagues, and with everyone at the CDC.

It’s astonishing how little coverage this attack received. A gunman fired 500 rounds at our nation’s top public health agency and killed a police officer. This should have been front-page news everywhere. Instead, it barely registered in much of the media.

We now know the shooter’s motivations. He believed the COVID-19 vaccine harmed him — a belief without evidence, rooted in misinformation. Most people with grievances don’t commit violence, but we ignore misinformation’s dangers at our peril.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has repeatedly spread falsehoods about vaccines — falsehoods that sow confusion and undermine public trust.

People are entitled to their own opinions. Skepticism is normal — and healthy. But fabrications and falsifications from the top health official in the United States are unacceptable. When leaders promote conspiracy theories and invent or suppress facts, the consequences can be real and deadly. Attacks on scientists and health workers are unacceptable — and make all of us less safe.

As a former CDC director, I know the staff of the agency. They put their lives on the line for others, running toward danger when a health emergency strikes.

During the West Africa Ebola epidemic, hundreds of CDC staff deployed into the epidemic zone. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia said to me then: “When all the rest of the world ran away from Liberia, you and so many CDC staff ran toward us to help.” When I thanked one officer who served in the region for months, he told me, “I want to tell my children what I did in the war against Ebola, just as the older generation is proud of what they did in World War II.” CDC staff dedicate their professional lives to our protection.

Violence is not just a crime problem. Public health brings unique skills that can support security agencies to reduce violence and injuries. This starts with seeing the invisible – patterns, causes, and the effectiveness of different measures to reduce violence.

This includes:

• Violent death reporting systems that empower states and communities to better protect families — just as we track infectious diseases

• Pattern analysis to identify risk factors (childhood trauma, substance misuse, firearm access) and protective factors (strong family and community support)

• Intervention evaluation, from community-based violence interrupters to school-based prevention programs

• Highlighting of the needs of those most affected, including victims and frontline responders.

This work helped cities including Oakland, New York, and Chicago reduce shootings. Charles Barber’s book, Citizen Outlaw, is a powerful description of the life of one violence interrupter.

Unfortunately, public health faces another role here: self-protection.

Attacks on public health workers — verbal, digital, and now physical — are increasing steadily, as they are on health care workers. During the COVID pandemic, many state and local health officials faced harassment, threats, or job loss. Globally, we see vaccine workers assassinated, hospitals bombed, clinics attacked.

Non-negotiables:

• Public health workers must never become targets

• Healthcare facilities must never become battlegrounds

• Facts must never yield to fear.

Elected officials, law enforcement, media, and community leaders must take this threat seriously. Safety first. This means physical security for health agencies. This means training and support for frontline workers. This means threat tracking and prosecution. This means leaders must stop fanning paranoia and hatred.

Public health always carries risks. Enter an outbreak, risk illness. Speak on controversial issues, face criticism. Despite the pain we feel, I hope we will work even harder to listen to each other–especially to people we disagree with. But no one should fear attack — or death — for protecting others. When we don’t allow our health workers to do their jobs safely, we are all less safe. No one should face avoidable danger just to do their job. We must protect public health workers so they can protect us.

The CDC attack is a wake up call. Not just about security, but about truth. About restoring shared reality to our discourse. About valuing our health and public health workforce. About standing with the people who protect us. About the simple principle that should guide all systems:

Safety first.

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Dr. Tom Frieden is author of The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives – Including Your Own.

The book draws on Frieden's four decades leading life-saving programs in the U.S. and globally. Frieden led New York City's control of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, supported India's efforts that prevented more than 3 million tuberculosis deaths, and led efforts that reduced smoking in NYC.

As Director of the CDC (2009-2017), he led the agency's response that ended the Ebola epidemic. Dr. Frieden is President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, partnering locally and globally to find and scale solutions to the world's deadliest health threats.

Named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People, he has published more than 300 scientific articles on improving health. His experience is, for the first time, translated into practical approaches for community and personal health in The Formula for Better Health.