CDC official heading to Iraq

ATLANTA, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Bill Gimson, chief operating officer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is going to Iraq on temporary assignment.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Gimson, who is taking a position with the State Department, is viewed by many as the CDC's most influential figure.

"This is a major change for the organization," Jeff Levi, executive director of the watchdog group Trust for America's Health, told the newspaper. "This is the person who makes the trains run on time."

CDC director Julie Gerberding and Gimson were the chief architects of a major reorganization at the agency, which has its headquarters in Atlanta, that began in 2003, the newspaper said.