CDC’s ‘disease detectives’ are on the coronavirus case

To anticipate events like the coronavirus pandemic, the CDC established the Epidemic Intelligence Service, its elite “disease detective” training program. Over the course of two years, EIS officers receive immersive, on-the-job training — either at CDC headquarters, where they’re assigned to focus on specific disease areas, or at state and local health departments around the country — to investigate every aspect of an outbreak like this one.