Board flags CDC content concerns as county manages pertussis and varicella outbreaks

Members of Buncombe County’s Health & Human Services Board expressed concern about recent content on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website and pushed for the county to curate and publish trusted local resources while communicable disease teams manage two current outbreaks.

Savannah, speaking for the community health subgroup, said the county is seeing early flu-season activity and urged vaccination. She said members were also troubled by specific CDC website content that has made it harder to tell what to trust online. “The recommendation at this point is to avoid the CDC information and instead refer to your state resources on data and any professional associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics,” she said.

Board members including Martha Salyers and Ellis repeated similar concerns and recommended that Buncombe County publish a list of county-recommended sources on its website. David, the director, said the county’s communicable disease team is actively managing a large pertussis situation and a varicella outbreak and praised their work.

What’s next: Staff said they will publish recommended source links on the county website, continue outreach about flu vaccination, and support communicable disease teams responding to current outbreaks.