In or around July 2019, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) informed its Resident Adviser to the U.S. Field Epidemiology Training Program in China, Dr. Linda Quick, that her position would be eliminated. Dr. Quick, who was based in China, had been responsible for training local epidemiologists to track, investigate, and contain disease outbreaks. She moved to another position within the CDC after learning that the Resident Adviser role would be eliminated in September 2019.
Update:
In March 2020, health experts publicly criticized the decision to eliminate Dr. Quick's position, arguing that it had undermined the Trump administration's ability to track and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ex-CDC employees and others told reporters that Dr. "Quick was in an ideal position to be the eyes and ears on the ground for the United States and other countries on the coronavirus outbreak, might have alerted them to the growing threat weeks earlier."