Key points
- In 2025, global health threats posed major risks to Americans, as outbreaks can cross borders within hours.
- CDC's experts, operating in 60+ countries, work with local health partners to detect and contain threats early.
- This global surveillance network serves as America's first line of defense, protecting communities at home by stopping outbreaks abroad.
Why Global Health is Key to U.S. Health Security
In 2025, global health threats remained a critical risk to Americans.
Increased travel, humanitarian crises and instability, and evolving pathogens allow outbreaks to spread across borders in days or just hours. Protecting Americans requires stopping threats early, wherever they emerge.
Every day, CDC's global health experts are on the frontlines, helping to stop outbreaks before they spread to the United States. This is American-led global health security in action, keeping Americans safe.
With on-the-ground experts in more than 60 countries, CDC works with Ministries of Health, laboratories, and frontline responders to detect outbreaks earlier and respond faster. This global network allows CDC to identify risks at their source, share real-time information, and contain health threats before they impact Americans.
Preventing threats abroad protects communities at home. In a connected world, diseases can spread rapidly, affecting travel, trade, and everyday life. CDC's global surveillance and laboratory systems inform U.S. risk assessments, guide traveler recommendations, and support country-led decisions. Acting early reduces the likelihood that emerging threats reach U.S. communities. When health threats emerge, CDC is the first call—trusted for its expertise, global presence, and ability to act quickly. CDC's global work is America's first line of defense.
In 2025, CDC's work spanned nearly every continent. Read stories of impact from the report highlighted below.
