CDC Layoffs Leave U.S. ‘Flying Blind’ on Infections

United States: Recent staff reductions at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) laboratories led to laboratory closures that place infections such as viral hepatitis and antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea at risk of uncontrolled spread, as reported by HealthDay.

A total of 27 scientists working at the only U.S. lab doing hepatitis outbreak genetic testing were terminated through the recent workforce reductions. The laboratory dedicated to investigating state-wide outbreaks was mustering layoffs at the moment of shutdown.

Hepatitis Surveillance at a Standstill

“In essence, we’re flying blind,” Scott Becker, head of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, told The Washington Post.

Specifically, the association sent a formal letter to the U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. requested that fired employees regain their positions.

“Their loss eliminated critical national testing services that do not exist anywhere else within the [Health and Human Services] agencies,” the letter stated.

Major CDC Lab Shutdowns After Staff Cuts

CDC eliminated the facility where they monitored antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea (known as “super gonorrhea”) when they dismissed their staff members. A total of 2,400 CDC staff members received termination notices, according to The Post article.

Amid a hepatitis outbreak, all 27 scientists in an Atlanta CDC lab investigating it received an email from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services informing them that they were losing their jobs. https://t.co/BCp1Er1ixR
— WABE News (@wabenews) April 16, 2025

CDC laboratories maintain a central position in monitoring hepatitis C transmission outbreaks, which lead to liver damage through viral infection. Research has shown that hepatitis C outbreaks have occurred more frequently in dialysis facilities, outpatient surgery clinics, and prisons throughout recent years.

A Florida outbreak involved nine domestic patients with infections whose cases the CDC was tracking. Laboratory researchers investigated whether other patients presented viral strains matching those from the available samples to better track disease spread patterns.

Experts Sound the Alarm

Dr. Judith Feinberg from West Virginia University expresses that hepatitis C infections had an incredible “stupendous” surge during the past twenty-five years.

“The CDC lab was capable of showing the genetic linkage between isolates of virus … and that helps you control it from public health policy. It helps you understand how and where disease is spreading and how the virus is evolving,” Feinberg added.

Every year, a large number of Americans develop viral hepatitis. The infection passes between people through handling infected food or sharing needles in addition to close skin-to-skin contact with blood.

All 27 scientists at this CDC lab were told their duties were "unnecessary," and now viral outbreak investigations have been halted. https://t.co/OKkTBGfRb4
— Becky A Robertson (@AnciraBecky) April 16, 2025

An annual CDC report shows hepatitis poses as the primary reason people develop liver cancer while being responsible for thousands of American deaths.

The CDC eliminated all 28 scientists whose expertise lay in the Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) lab that monitored chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea patterns. That lab operated as the sole testing facility in the United States, and it examined antibiotic resistance patterns against gonorrhea stains.

“The world has only three such laboratories but the United States maintains its exclusive position by being the sole testing facility for gonorrhea drug sensitivity,” noted Kelly Wroblewski of the Association of Public Health Laboratories as director of infectious disease programs, as reported by HealthDay.

During 2023 doctors diagnosed more than 2 million STIs including gonorrhea which caused above 600,000 reported infections. Infections of gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis have increased by 90% through the last twenty years according to new data reports.

Without the lab, Colleen Kelley, a professor of medicine at Emory University who treats patients with HIV and sexually transmitted infections, said, “No one will tell us if we are seeing more cases of this, and no one will be there to sound the alarm bells.”