US President Donald Trump has named Erica Schwartz to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A Coast Guard rear admiral, Schwartz served as Trump's deputy surgeon general during his first administration.
The CDC had gone months without a Senate-confirmed director after the last leader, Susan Monarez, was ousted.
"It is my honour to nominate the incredibly talented Dr Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, as my Director of the CDC," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "She is a star!"
Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health, has been overseeing the CDC on an interim basis since Monarez left.
