Continuing Enhanced National Surveillance for Prion Diseases in the United States

The CDC announces the availability of FY 2027 funds for a cooperative agreement to continue enhanced national surveillance for human prion diseases, also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), in the United States. The purpose is to continue an active surveillance program to help confirm suspected and clinically diagnosed cases of human prion disease and to monitor the occurrence of potentially emerging human prion diseases in the United States. Outcomes are enhanced national surveillance for always fatal human prion diseases through improved diagnoses and continued monitoring for emerging or new prion diseases in the United States. These outcomes are accomplished through the funding of a specialized center to conduct state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques. Prion diseases can only be confirmed through brain tissue analyses, and many facilities lack the expertise and/or the willingness, due to infection control concerns, to handle and accurately diagnose specimens from suspected cases. Since 1997, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has funded a center to provide prion disease diagnostic services, which has allowed for disease confirmation, evaluation of disease trends over time, and identification of disease subtypes. Data have been shared with CDC experts who partner with center staff, providing guidance and epidemiological knowledge. This collaboration has contributed to accurate national surveillance findings and helped to provide confidence that novel prion diseases, such as a human form of the animal prion disease, chronic wasting disease, have not been occurring in the country.

Applications are reviewed against specific Evaluation Criteria published in the Notice of Funding Opportunity for this program. Evaluation Criteria in the most recently published NOFO include: (1) capacity to perform core functions of an EIP, (2) proposed operational plan for carrying out the specific objectives of the program, and (3) measures of effectiveness.

Match: none required (federal program listing). This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details.

Fiscal year 2016: Activities for this program fall into the following general categories: (1) active surveillance; (2) applied public health epidemiologic and laboratory activities; (3) implementation and evaluation of pilot prevention/intervention projects; and (4) flexible response to public health emergencies. Activities: (1) address issues that the EIP network is particularly suited to investigate; (2) maintain sufficient flexibility for emergency response and new problems as they arise; (3) develop and evaluate public health interventions to inform public health policy and treatment guidelines; (4) incorporate training as a key function; and (5) prioritize projects that lead directly to the prevention of disease (http://wwwlink.cdc.gov/ncezid/dpei/eip). The EIPs have proved to be a national resource for conducting active, population-based surveillance and special studies for invasive bacterial diseases, foodborne pathogens, healthcare associated infections (HAIs), influenza, and many other infectious diseases. The network has been instrumental in measuring the impact of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, informing and evaluating treatment guidelines for Group B...