Epidemic Intelligence Service

The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a program of the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The modern EIS is a two-year, hands-on post-doctoral training program in epidemiology, with a focus on field work.

History
Alexander Langmuir, Chief of the U.S. Public Health Service, proposed the creation of the Epidemic Intelligence Service on March 30, 1951. Langmuir argued that the agency could identify appropriate defense measures against biological warfare germs, develop new detection methods, and train laboratory workers to rapidly recognize biological warfare germs. This justification arose from biological warfare concerns during the Korean War.

The Epidemic Intelligence Service was organized on September 26, 1951, with the purpose of investigating disease outbreaks that are beyond the control of state and local health departments, enforcing interstate quarantine regulations, and providing epidemic aid at the request of state health agencies. The Epidemic Intelligence Service's first staff members were 21 medical officers of the Public Health Service.

Background
The EIS is operated by the CDC's Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services (CSELS), in the Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS).

Program participants, known colloquially as "disease detectives", are formally called "EIS officers" (or EIS fellows) by the CDC and have been dispatched to investigate hundreds of possible epidemics created by natural and artificial causes. Since 1951, more than 3,000 EIS officers have been involved in domestic and international response efforts, including the anthrax, hantavirus, West Nile virus in the United States, and the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

EIS officers begin their fellowship with a one-month training program at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia; however, 95% of their two-year term consists of experiential rather than classroom training. For the remainder of their service, EIS officers are assigned to operational branches within the CDC or at state and local health departments around the country. Placement is determined via a highly competitive matching process. The CDC pairs EIS officers with a Public Health Advisor, forming a scientist (EIS officer) and operations (PHA) team. The EIS is a common recruiting pathway into the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

The EIS is the prototype for Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETP), which operate in numerous countries with technical assistance provided by the CDC. However, attempts to establish FETPs in Indonesia, Hungary, Ivory Coast, and within the World Health Organization have failed due to insufficient long-term support.

History of responses
Since the inception of the EIS, officers have been involved with treatment, eradication, and disease-control efforts for a variety of medically related crises. Below is an abridged timeline of their work.
 * 1950s: The EIS worked on polio, lead poisoning, and Asian influenza
 * 1960s: Cancer clusters, and smallpox
 * 1970s: Legionnaires' disease, Ebola, and Reye syndrome
 * 1980s: Toxic shock syndrome, birth defects, and HIV/AIDS
 * 1990s: Tobacco, West Nile virus, and contaminated water
 * 2000s: Post 9/11 anthrax attacks, E. coli O157:H7, SARS, H1N1, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
 * 2010s: The aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, obesity, fungal meningitis, and Ebola
 * 2020s: Zika virus, COVID-19 pandemic

EIS conference
EIS officers attend an annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia, to present components of their work from the preceding year.

During the conference, the Alexander D. Langmuir Prize is awarded "to a current officer or first-year alumnus of the EIS for the best scientific publication. The award consists of a $100 cash prize, an engraved paperweight, a case of ale or beer redolent of the John Snow Pub in London, and an inscription on the permanent plaque at CDC."

A complete list of Langmuir Prize winners is included below:

In popular culture
In the 2011 film Contagion, the character Doctor Erin Mears (portrayed by Kate Winslet) is a physician and investigator with the Epidemic Intelligence Service who was tasked by the CDC to discover the origin of a highly contagious and deadly virus known as MEV-1 which was rapidly spreading throughout the world following initial outbreaks in Kowloon, Hong Kong and Minneapolis, Minnesota.