STAT obtained a document indicating Puerto Rico may be underreporting Zika cases.
The issue stems from a personal dispute between Miguel Valencia, MD, the Puerto Rican official in charge of the territory's tracking program, and the CDC Director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases Lyle Petersen, MD, according to the report.
The CDC provided Puerto Rico with $9.5 million in funds in 2016 to create and run a Zika surveillance system, STAT reported. The document alleges Dr. Valencia instructed staff to use his criteria — which was narrower than the CDC's — to identify and record Zika-related birth defects. Puerto Rico has only identified 29 cases of Zika-related birth defects, compared to 65 cases in the U.S., according to the report. A former government official told STAT "dozens and dozens" of babies have been born in Puerto Rico with birth defects similar to those associated with Zika, according to the report.
In August 2016, Dr. Petersen sent a letter to Brenda Rivera, the former territorial epidemiologist, indicating he was concerned about Puerto Rico's Zika reporting. Though unclear if the letter was the issue, Dr. Valencia then called for a formal apology from Dr. Petersen and refused to communicate with the CDC for several months, according to the report.
The CDC would not confirm with STAT if it issued a corrective action plan for the tracking program. The CDC has asked for Dr. Valencia to be replaced, but it is unclear if that action was taken, according to the report.
Read the full story here.
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