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CDC garners favorable response in Pew survey

Kurtis Lee Los Angeles Times

Despite criticism for its response to Ebola in the United States last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is viewed favorably by a majority of Americans, according to a new survey.

That’s one of the findings of a survey that asked respondents about several government agencies. Perceptions of the Department of Veterans Affairs took a dive, but the CDC appears to have weathered a rough year. The survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Center found that 70 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the CDC.

The agency’s director, Dr. Tom Frieden, and the Obama administration came under scrutiny in the fall after a man who’d traveled from West Africa to Dallas became ill with Ebola and two nurses contracted the virus while treating him. Some, including lawmakers on Capitol Hill, argued that the CDC did not adequately train hospital officials in proper protocols for treating Ebola patients.

In the survey conducted Jan. 7-11, Pew surveyed about 1,500 adults about several government agencies, such as NASA, the Department of Defense and the CIA.

NASA and the Department of Defense garnered favorable responses: 68 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

The survey found that 54 percent had positive views of the CIA, and 59 percent held favorable views of the Environmental Protection Agency. The IRS didn’t fare as well, with 45 percent of those surveyed holding a positive view of the agency.

Veterans Affairs did not fare as well. The survey found that 52 percent of respondents viewed the department favorably, down 16 percentage points from October 2013.

Last year, then-VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki came under intense scrutiny for reports that some hospital employees conspired to hide months-long wait times that many veterans faced when seeking care. Shinseki resigned in May.

The partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans toward many government agencies is stark. The Pew survey found that Republicans viewed only one agency more favorably than Democrats – the CIA.