Disease detectives at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating a new outbreak: approximately three dozen coronavirus cases linked to their own annual conference last week.
“CDC is working with the Georgia Department of Health to conduct a rapid epidemiological assessment of confirmed COVID-19 cases that appear to be connected to the 2023 EIS Conference to determine transmission patterns,” CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said in an email.
Nordlund mentioned that the CDC reported the cases to state health officials who have jurisdiction over the conference location. Attendees noted that many participants did not adhere to masking, social distancing, or other precautions that the CDC had previously recommended during the pandemic.
Fewer than 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported across the United States last week, marking the lowest levels in nearly two years.
However, public health experts caution that most cases are not being tracked, with many Americans opting for home testing, if they test at all, and not reporting the results.
Despite the low reported case numbers, the virus remains on pace to be one of the top 10 causes of death this year, with fatalities predominantly among older and immunocompromised individuals.
An outbreak of coronavirus cases at a CDC conference—the first in-person meeting of disease detectives in four years—highlights the persistence of the evolving virus. The four-day conference for epidemic intelligence service officers and alumni, held near CDC headquarters in Atlanta, drew about 2,000 attendees who were likely fully vaccinated.
“This is, unfortunately, the new normal,” Jay Varma, an infectious-disease expert at Weill Cornell Medicine, wrote in a text message. “While it is unsettling to see widespread COVID-19 transmission at CDC’s premier public health conference, it’s probably the clearest example yet” of the global situation.
Varma emphasized that individuals and organizations should continue to take coronavirus precautions to protect themselves and the most vulnerable.
“I hope that organizers of large conferences, especially for health professionals, should, at a minimum, make high-quality masks as abundant and available as toilet paper and ensure that there is adequate ventilation and/or disinfection of air,” he wrote.
Nordlund stated that about 35 people linked to the conference had reported testing positive as of Tuesday.
“Conducting a rapid investigation now will help understand transmission that occurred and assist in refining future public health guidance as we move out of the public health emergency and to the next phase of COVID-19 surveillance and response,” she wrote.
“Whenever there are large gatherings, especially indoors, such as at a conference, there is the possibility of COVID-19 spread, even in periods of low community spread.”
Conference attendees received an email from the CDC encouraging them to participate in the survey with the Georgia health department, according to an email shared with The Washington Post.
“If you attended the conference in person, you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19,” the email read. “If you are experiencing symptoms, we recommend you follow CDC guidance for isolation and testing.”
The Biden administration is winding down its pandemic response, with most federal vaccine mandates and the coronavirus public health emergency set to be lifted next week.
Public health experts acknowledge that while the pandemic’s dangers have largely decreased, they remain cautious about future variants and note that the virus continues to evolve.
For example, a new omicron subvariant, XBB.1.16, nicknamed Arcturus, is becoming more prevalent in the United States.
The latest CDC tracker shows the variant made up almost 12 percent of cases nationwide for the week ending April 29, up from about 7 percent the week ending April 15. Most of the current infections in the United States are from XBB.1.5, another omicron subvariant.
