US CDC's Ralph Abraham becomes second top official to leave this month

Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Principal Deputy Director Ralph Abraham has stepped down, the agency said on Monday, announcing the exit of its second top official this month.

The CDC, which is temporarily being run by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, said the departure was effective immediately and attributed it to unforeseen family obligations. It did not comment on who would replace Abraham.

His exit follows that of Jim O'Neill, who was acting CDC director since August in addition to him functioning as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Abraham, second in command at the agency, started at the CDC on January 5 and was most recently Surgeon General of the state of Louisiana where he led a move to stop promotion of mass vaccination and criticized the COVID shots.

The CDC has been hit by budget cuts, staff losses and a series of controversies under Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic who fired the director he had appointed, Susan Monarez.

Monarez was removed in August after she resisted changes to vaccine policy advanced by Kennedy that she believed contradicted scientific evidence.

Her departure triggered resignations from four senior officials, who cited anti-vaccine policies and misinformation pushed by Kennedy.

Last week, U.S. National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Bhattacharya stepped as acting director of the agency. Trump administration sources have said the moves are part of positioning ahead of November elections.

A U.S. vaccine advisory committee meeting scheduled for later this month by the CDC will not be held, with no new dates announced, Reuters reported last week.