Countermeasures are interventions taken to help prevent or slow the spread of disease. An important way the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) helps keep our nation safe when public health emergencies (such as an influenza pandemic, natural disaster, or national security emergency) occur is by distributing and tracking the use of medicine and supplies used to address the health threat. Such medicine and supplies are commonly called medical countermeasures. When responding to events that put people’s health at risk, public health officials need timely, accurate information about their supply, distribution, and use of countermeasures at the local, state, and national levels. CIT is a national-level system used by federal and state emergency response authorities to monitor the current availability of critical medical countermeasures, including commercial inventories in the private sector during a public health emergency. CS292667-C cit-fact-sheet-508.pdf

Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library collection