The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an urgent internal call for volunteer screeners at major US airports as the worst Ebola outbreak in years spirals toward 1,000 cases and threatens to reach American soil.
Acting directorJay Bhattacharyasent the appeal to CDC staff on 27 May 2026, asking them to deploy voluntarily to three designated airports for Ebola screening duties. The request landed after a sustained campaign ofworkforce reductions under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.and theDepartment of Government Efficiency (DOGE)stripped thousands of trained public health personnel from the agency.
As aWHO-declared public health emergency of international concerndeepens across the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, the US agency once regarded as the global standard-bearer for outbreak response is staffing its airport frontlines with whoever raises their hand.
The internal email, sent by Bhattacharya on Tuesday and independently reviewed byBloomberg NewsandABC News, prioritised so-called CDCReady Responders, a pre-designated pool of deployable agency staff, but opened the call to the wider workforce across job series and pay grades.
Those who volunteer would be responsible for observing incoming passengers for signs of illness, checking temperatures, and referring suspected cases for further assessment, according to Reuters, which also reviewed the email.
An HHS official confirmed the authenticity of the letter to ABC News. Bhattacharya is simultaneously serving as NIH director, a dual role he has held sinceFebruary 2026when HHS Secretary Kennedy installed him as acting CDC head following the removal of Jim O'Neill. The CDC has not had a Senate-confirmed permanent director since Kennedy fired Susan Monarez last August, less than a month after her confirmation.
Screening operations are directed at three airports. The CDC beganenhanced entry screening at Washington Dulles International Airportfrom 11:59 pm on 20 May, then expanded to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on 22 May. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston was added alongside the volunteer request.
Travellers who have visited the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan in the 21 days before their flight are now routed to these hubs under aDHS Federal Register noticeinvoking Title 42 authority.
The volunteer recruitment drive arrives against the backdrop of the most aggressive drawdown of CDC staffing in the agency's history. In April 2025, the HHS, in coordination with DOGE,announced plans to cut 10,000 full-time positions, reducing the department from 82,000 to 62,000 employees and saving an estimated £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) per year. The CDC alone lost approximately 2,400 workers in that round.
October 2025 brought another wave. During the second week of a government shutdown, Kennedy dismissed more than 1,000 CDC scientists, doctors, and public health officials in a single Friday night action. That round wiped out the entire director's office of the National Centre for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases. Critically, the office of the director at the CDC's Global Health Centre, the division specifically tasked with stopping health threats before they reach the United States, was abolished entirely.
Source: International Business Times UK
