"Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people," the US Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a statement posted on social media.
CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry and National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Demetre Daskalakis are also out after resigning, Houry confirmed to Reuters.
National Centre for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Director Daniel Jernigan has also quit, days after the agency reported the first US human case of screwworm linked to an ongoing outbreak in Central America.
The Washington Post first reported Monarez was being ousted and on her way out earlier on Wednesday, citing multiple Trump administration officials familiar with the matter.
Neither the department nor the Post cited a reason for her departure from the agency. Citing several anonymous CDC employees, the Post reported that Monarez on Friday cancelled an agency-wide call that had been scheduled for Monday.
The White House did not immediately provide comment.
Monarez, a federal government scientist, was confirmed by the US Senate on July 29 to lead the CDC after President Donald Trump nominated her earlier in the year. She was sworn in by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on July 31.
Her departure from the agency follows a shooting at the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier in the month.
Monarez was the Trump administration's second nominee for the role. In March, the president withdrew his nomination of former Republican congressman and vaccine critic Dave Weldon, a Kennedy ally, just hours before his scheduled confirmation hearing.
Since being named the top US health official, Kennedy has targeted vaccine policy, and in May withdrew a federal recommendation for COVID shots for pregnant women and healthy children.
He followed up in June by firing all members of the CDC's expert vaccine advisory panel, which recommends how they are used and by whom, and replacing them with hand-picked advisers including fellow anti-vaccine activists.
Kennedy has made major decisions on vaccines in the absence of a CDC director while Monarez awaited confirmation and continued to do so afterwards. Her departure comes on the same day that Kennedy announced changes to COVID vaccine eligibility.
with AP
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