NIH: CREID-ESP Shutdown Slows Emerging Disease Detection Worldwide

When NIH terminated the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) network in June 2025, it ended support for the Center for Research in Emerging Infectious Disease-Epidemiology, Surveillance, Pathogenesis (CREID-ESP), led by Washington University in St. Louis, halting a multi-country effort designed to detect potential epidemic-risk viral threats through surveillance of symptomatic patterns and rapid diagnostic development. CREID-ESP was organized around key clinical syndromes frequently associated with emerging infections—respiratory disease, inflammation of the brain, and fever of unknown origin—paired with animal and insect vector surveillance to identify origins and transmission patterns and creation of better tools to test for pathogens and understand how they spread and the risks they pose. The center included surveillance sites in Hong Kong, Nepal, and Ethiopia. The loss of funding compromised a network designed to keep the United States ahead of emerging threats and translate research into actionable outbreak response capabilities.

The CREID network was established by NIH in 2020 to build outbreak-ready surveillance and research capacity in regions where emerging epidemics are most likely to occur. Through nine research centers, a coordinating center, and more than 100 sites worldwide, CREID linked multidisciplinary teams to study disease transmission dynamics, strengthen local preparedness, and develop improved tools and early warning systems. Its capabilities supported responses to COVID-19 and to outbreaks of Lassa fever, mpox, and other high-consequence pathogens. By operating as a coordinated network, CREID enabled faster sharing of data, specimens, methods, and technical expertise—capabilities that individual projects often cannot sustain. When the centers were terminated in June 2025, the loss was not just individual centers, but a coordinated early-warning and response architecture that supported partners abroad and US preparedness at home.

CREID-ESP was led by the Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO), in partnership with the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (La Jolla, CA) and collaborators in Ethiopia, the Republic of Korea, Nepal, and Hong Kong.