As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

Astonishing.  I am, at heart, an incrementalist.  There are times when a root and branch approach to problem solving is called for but my predisposition is always to fix problems in increments.  

And, after two years of serial failure by the CDC, we certainly have an institutional problem to be solved.  At nearly every stage, when faced with a strategic decision, the CDC made decisions that contradicted their own established policies as well as the balance of evidence available at the time.  Decisions which are now increasingly being confirmed as decidedly and empirically bad and with ever greater negative consequences.  The magnitude of the catastrophe will take a few more years to dimensionalize but the poor decision-making is on clear display.

One would think, given this recent past, that the CDC would be on especial alert to demonstrate more effective professional behavior.  

As if to test whether they have learned any lessons from their own two-year run of incompetence, we now have the monkey-pox virus, a known pathogen native to Africa and with occasional minor outbreaks.  The most recent rash of cases, primarily in Europe, seem to have occurred via a single (possibly two) gay sex events in Europe.

The CDC notes:

Monkeypox virus can spread when a person comes into contact with the virus from an infected animal, infected person, or materials contaminated with the virus. The virus can also cross the placenta from the mother to her fetus. Monkeypox virus may spread from animals to people through the bite or scratch of an infected animal, by handling wild game, or through the use of products made from infected animals. The virus may also spread through direct contact with body fluids or sores on an infected person or with materials that have touched body fluids or sores, such as clothing or linens.

Monkeypox spreads between people primarily through direct contact with infectious sores, scabs, or body fluids. It also can be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact. Monkeypox can spread during intimate contact between people, including during sex, as well as activities like kissing, cuddling, or touching parts of the body with monkeypox sores.

This is a disease spread via physical contact.  So what is the CDC recommendation?

Like a dog returning to its vomit, the CDC, after all the masking debacles of the past two years, promptly recommends once again that travelers mask up to protect themselves from a rare non-lethal disease spread by physical contact.  

They seem now to have rescinded this recommendation after a torrent of mockery.  But how could an institution in such circumstances and with such brand damage, immediately, on the first possible opportunity, once again shoot themselves in the foot.

Proverbs 26:11

As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

Root and branch seems about the only viable approach at this point.