Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, will continue to also oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while the administration searches for a permanent director. Nathan Howard/AP hide caption

Nathan Howard/AP

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is once again searching for a new leader.

During the current Trump administration, the embattled agency tasked with protecting the nation's health has had a Senate-confirmed director for less than a month, and it has lost at least a quarter of its staff due to cuts and attrition .

Now the administration is poised to miss a deadline that ensures leadership continuity. Wednesday marks 210 days since the last CDC director Susan Monarez was ousted , which is the limit for how long someone can lead the agency as an acting director, according to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 .…