New York City
- Population: 8,622,698
- Local Health Departments: 1
- Frequent Public Health Emergencies: Extreme Heat, Winter Storms, Infectious Disease Outbreaks
- Key Emergency Operations Center Activations: 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic; 2019: Measles Outbreak Response; 2018: JFK Response
- CDC PHEP Funding:
FY 2020: $18,608,800
FY 2019: $18,790,865
FY 2018: $18,045,620
- CDC Preparedness Field Staff: 5
- Other*: 8
*Includes IT specialists, administrative staff, statisticians, and other positions
- Public Health Surveillance and Epidemiologic Investigation
- Emergency Operations Coordination
- Public Health Laboratory Testing
- Community Preparedness
- Medical Materiel Management and Distribution
Over a 10-day period in September 2017, epidemiologists at New York City’s (NYC) health department fielded 16 calls from emergency departments about patients with a respiratory illness associated with an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Seven of these patients met CDC requirements to be evaluated for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Laboratory staff found all patients negative for MERS-CoV, and instead found H1 and H3 influenza, adenovirus, and enterovirus. This rapid surveillance and diagnostic testing capacity, made possible in part by PHEP funding, demonstrates NYC’s ability to detect diseases like MERS-CoV quickly and, if detected, prevent high-consequence outbreaks.
New York City has been able to apply many of its existing resources and lessons learned from the West Nile Virus response to the Zika response. A representative from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene shares the strategies the city uses to fight Zika.
