FDA Creates New Position of National Outbreak Director

FDA officials have announced the creation of a new position that will put one person in charge of dealing with foodborne disease outbreaks and leading a permanent team dedicated to that purpose.

The agency posted an online hiring notice about the new position: "chief medical officer/national outbreak director," reporting to Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods.

Taylor said the agency's goal is to improve and broaden the agency's approach to foodborne outbreaks. The FDA is assembling a permanent team to work on foodborne outbreaks, which, he said, will number "in the vicinity of 40 people." Until now, he explained, the agency used "kind of an ad hoc approach" when outbreaks occurred, assigning people from various FDA offices to work on them temporarily.

Read the full story at University of Minnesota CIDRAP.

See the posting at FDA.