Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch

Branch Chief: Ian Williams, PhD
Deputy Branch Chief: Michael Jhung, MD, MPH
Deputy Branch Chief for Outbreak Response: Matthew Wise, MPH, PhD

CDC’s Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch (ORPB) collaborates with epidemiologists and other public health officials who investigate clusters of foodborne, waterborne, zoonotic, and other enteric (gastrointestinal) illnesses in the U.S. ORPB works to ensure rapid and coordinated surveillance, detection, and response to multistate outbreaks caused by enteric bacteria, including Salmonella, Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Listeria.

Focus Areas

Coordinate the national network of public health officials who investigate foodborne, waterborne, zoonotic, and other enteric disease outbreaks.
Provide outbreak assistance to state and local health departments and other groups at CDC who investigate multistate enteric disease outbreaks.
Develop, implement, and evaluate tools and strategies for the prevention and control of multistate enteric disease outbreaks.
Communicate risk to the public and other stakeholders during ongoing outbreaks and create educational materials to prevent enteric illnesses.

Organization & Teams

Outbreak Response Prevention Branch Organization Chart with Office of the Chief being the top entry. Listed under that in row 2 are 4 teams including the Foodborne Outbreak Response Team with the Listeria Unit under it in row 3, the Enteric Zoonoses Activity, the Prevention and Evaluation Activity, and lastly, the Capacity and Implementation Team. This is current as of January 2018.

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