File:I Am CDC - Kiersten Kugeler.webm

English: I’ve been with CDC for 14 years. I’m an epidemiologist. I work in CDC’s Division of Vector Borne Diseases. We work to understand the diseases that people get from ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes. I think, if I weren’t working at CDC, I’d be travelling around the world with my husband and two young girls, possibly even working on humanitarian efforts. I think exposing kids at a young age to the challenges that people around the world face each day is critical to creating the compassionate adults that will work to make the world a better place. One of the diseases I work on is plague. The word ‘plague’ elicits both fear and intrigue, even today, nearly 700 years after plague devastated the population of Europe in the 1300s. What many people may not realize is that plague still exists today in Asia, Africa, even here in the U.S. We get questions from all over the world about plague. Several years ago, we got a question from a fourth grader, wanting to interview someone about plague for a school project. I had so much fun answering that one. When I called his house and his mom answered, she was shocked that someone from CDC would actually call and talk to her son about plague. When he got on the phone, he was so nervous but I answered his questions and I told him a little bit more about plague…about why it’s been relevant to human history and why it’s still a threat to human health today. I love my job because it challenges me…both as a person and as a scientist, and I feel like I’m making a difference in improving people’s health, both here in the U.S. and around the world. I’m Kiersten Kugeler and I am CDC!

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