At CDC, scientists fight to halt a deadly outbreak

Scattered across the carefully landscaped main campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are the staff on the front lines fighting a rare outbreak of fungal meningitis. Dozens of people are working day and night to bring the outbreak under control. Workers sit at rows of computers, gathering data, advising doctors and reaching out to thousands of people who may have been exposed. "This is a very unusual infection," said Dr. John Jernigan, a CDC medical epidemiologist who is leading the clinical investigation team for the outbreak response. "So, treatment recommendations, diagnostic recommendations are all going to be new, and we're learning as we go on this one."