The head of the top US public health agency refused to step down on Wednesday, accusing vaccine skeptic Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of "weaponizing public health" after his department announced her dismissal.

Susan Monarez, who has been director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for less than a month, has "neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired," her lawyers said in a statement sent to AFP.

"As a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign," lawyers Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell said.

The statement accused Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- who is known for his vaccine skepticism -- of "weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk."

The

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