A Message from the Editor It would be remiss of me to write a Message from the Editor for this issue of Public Health Reports (PHR) without mentioning the current outbreak of Ebola in West Africa and subsequent cases in the United States. At the time of this writing in late October, a sizeable portion of the U.S. public health enterprise, both public and private, was occupied with controlling the outbreak in West Africa and preventing spread from cases that have occurred in the United States. Offices and agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) too numerous to mention here are working on critical aspects of the outbreak, including clinical, laboratory, epidemiologic, regulatory, and communications activities. The response to the outbreak by HHS and the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) involves intensive collaboration with other government agencies and is part of a whole-of-government approach. At my home agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of October 24, 2014, more than 100 disease control experts, including many PHS Commissioned Corps officers, had been deployed to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other countries to support the response to Ebola. Nearly 1,000 CDC experts were working on Ebola at CDC’s Emergency Operations Center in Atlanta or in other parts of the U.S.1 Many people who normally work at CDC on other public health problems have deployed to Africa or points in the U.S., or have shifted to Ebola work at the CDC Emergency Operations Center. PHR published online ahead of print an edition of our law column, Law and the Public’s Health, on the topic of Ebola-related law and preparedness.2 At the Office of the Surgeon General and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), Ebola has accelerated our thinking about how to streamline PHR. We recognize that we must get content out more quickly, especially for acute public health problems. PHR intends to publish more articles online ahead of print. For example, all columns of Law and the Public’s Health will be published online ahead of print. Expect to see more about these plans in future Messages from the Editor.

As always, this issue of PHR features articles on many different public health topics. For this issue’s Executive Perspective column, where we present the views of leaders from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and HHS operating divisions, we feature a commentary on behavioral health priorities by Pamela Hyde, the Administrator, and Kana Enomoto, the Principal Deputy Administrator, of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In his regular column, Acting Surgeon General Boris Lushniak highlights the importance of the family health history, which he calls the “simplest, most readily available, and most affordable genomic tool.” An extensive report from the National Vaccine Advisory Committee focuses on recommendations to strengthen maternal immunization programs and to increase the uptake of recommended vaccines among pregnant women. Other articles in the issue run the gamut from mental health screening of homeless children, communicable disease surveillance after Hurricane Sandy, serotype surveillance for invasive pneumococcal disease, and the validity of birth certificates, to life expectancy in American Indians/Alaska Natives and the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in Ohio. Our regular Law and the Public’s Health column addresses health in all policies, and our ASPPH column describes the growth of public health as an undergraduate major. As always, we welcome your input. If you have ideas or suggestions for PHR, please write to me at frederic [email protected]. Frederic E. Shaw, MD, JD Acting Editor REFERENCES   1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US). Ebola (ebola virus disease): what CDC is doing [cited 2014 Oct 24]. Available from: URL: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa /what-cdc-is-doing.html   2. Hodge JG Jr, Gostin LO, Hanfling D, Hick JL. Law, medicine, and public health preparedness: the case of Ebola. Public Health Rep 2015;130:online ahead of print.

Public Health Reports  /  January–February 2015 / Volume 130

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2   A Message from the Editor

Public Health Reports thanks the following individuals for serving as external peer reviewers for regular and supplemental submissions under consideration for volume year 129: Carolyn Ahlers-Schmidt Anthony Alberg Henry Anderson Catherine Barber Lawrence Barker Gerald Barron Nicole Beckwith Joshua Behr Stephen Bertke Tom Birkland Troy Blanchard Susan Blank Stephen Blumberg Daniel Boatright Matthew Boulton Ted Bowyer Wendy Braund Phyllis Brawarsky Lisa Brown Joanna Buffington Howard Burkom Geoffrey Calvert Anita Chandra Priscilla Lee Chu Joan Cioffi Sean Cleary Seema Clifasefi Phillip Coffin Francesco Della Corte Maria Courogen Charles Daley Daniel Daltry Corrina Dan David Dausey Lauren Davis Brandon Dean Nick DeLuca Clark Denny Robin Dillon-Merrill Christina Dorell John Dougherty Ira Dreyfuss Wayne Duffus Terry Dwelle Kristen Ehresmann

Paul Erwin Antonio Estrada Jing Fang Marcelo Fernandez-Viña Ruth Fesahazion Anthony Fiore Jennifer Fuld Candace Fuller Jeanne Gabriele Maxim Gakh Eric Gebbie Robert Gerzoff Kimberly Gill Stanton Glantz Cristie Glasheen Laura Glasman W. Paul Glezen Gary Goldbaum Tim Green Jennifer Grinsdale Matthew Groenewold Amy Groom Samuel Groseclose Richard Gillum Kathryn Hafford Beth Halley Nor Hashidah Abd Hamid Dan Hanfling Norma Harris Tiffany Harris Donald Haverkamp Fred Hellinger Jeffrey Herrmann Jeremy Hess Andrew Hill Hsiang Huang Kathryn Hyer Nina Jolani Emily Kahn Hilary Karasz Rebecca Katz Michelle Kegler Jeffrey Klausner Monina Klevens Supriya Kumar

Sherry Larkins Jude Leahy Jeannie-Marie Leoutsakos Karen Levin Bryan Lewis Maureen Lichtveld Michael Loehr Shirley Louie Sarah Lyon-Callo Michelle Macaraig Manya Magnus Geraldine McQuillan Helen Meissner Beth Meyerson Beth Molnar John Moulder Ernest Moy Mesfin Mulatu Flor Muñoz-Rivas Christopher Nelson Elizabeth O’Connor Anthony Oliver Eyal Oren Daniel Orenstein Ami Patel Preeti Pathela Sindy Paul Deborah Pearlman Matthew Penn Michael Pentella Stephen Pickard Jonathon Poe Jennifer Pomeranz Hugh Potter John Potterat Jill Power John Prescott Frank Putnam Feng Qian Troy Quast Marilyn Radke Kathleen Ragsdale Karina Rapposelli Brigg Reilley David Resnik

Russel Rickard Margaret Riggs Jessica Robbins Melva Thompson-Robinson Lance Rodewald Dale Rose Laura Ross Lynne Saddler Henry Saffer Scott Santibañez Sarah Schillie Ruth Schultz Sandy Schwarcz Katie Sellers Salaam Semaan Jennifer Seymour Gulzar Shah Meredith Shiels Christa Singleton Bill Smith Susan Smith Theresa Smith Lori Stegmier Mark Stenger Michael Stoto Wenjie Sun Todd Talbert Christina Tan Craig Thomas Mary Jo Trepka Jack Tsai Bernard Turnock Maki Umeda Sara Vagi Kirsten Vannice Nancy Violette Eric Vittinghoff Tara Vogt Chip Walter Elizabeth Wasilevich Thomas Weiser Eden Wells Ralph Wilmoth Barry Zack

Public Health Reports  /  January–February 2015 / Volume 130