Who had the worst week in Washington? The CDC

Welcome to the (almost) weekly edition of “What the heck are the people charged with keeping us safe doing?”

This week it’s the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has spent every second since Thomas Eric Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola at a Texas hospital telling all of us that everything is cool and there’s nothing to worry about.

Oct. 12 that narrative began to unravel as Nina Pham, one of the nurses who had cared for Duncan (he eventually passed away), was diagnosed with Ebola.

That news was soon followed by a second Ebola case — this one a nurse named Amber Vinson, who not only was involved in Duncan’s care but flew on a commercial flight the Monday night, a day before she was admitted to the hospital.

And guess what? Vinson had a low-grade fever on the flight from Cleveland to Dallas, a fever she told the CDC about before boarding. They said she was good to go.

So let’s get this straight. A woman who had direct contact with the only Ebola patient in the entire country was not only allowed to fly on a commercial jet but allowed to do so while exhibiting one of the symptoms of Ebola. (She also flew from Dallas to Cleveland Oct. 10, before she showed symptoms.)

“She should not have traveled on a commercial airline,” CDC head Thomas Frieden told reporters on a conference call Wednesday. No kidding! (Earlier Frieden suggested that a “breach of protocol” was responsible for Pham’s illness; he later apologized for that one.)

The feeling for anyone paying close attention — and that’s everyone at this point — was that the CDC seemed surprised at every turn by the virus. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

The CDC, for not exhibiting much control or prevention, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something.

Cillizza covers the White House for The Washington Post and writes The Fix, its politics blog.