Earlier this week, news broke that the Trump administration had “paused” federal health agency communications. According to A memo obtained by NPRthe directive told federal health agencies to halt most external communications, including issuing documents, guidance or notices, until they could be approved by “presidential appointment.” This includes communication on social media. According to the document, the action is “in accordance with precedent”, and is said to be in effect until February 1.
Federal officials are concerned about how the freeze will play out, and if they’ll be allowed to release information already planned for this week, NPR reports. These concerns come at an important time — when public health experts have been advocating for more surveillance around the current one. Bird flu situation.
While the bird flu crisis began several years ago, it escalated last April when the H5N1 virus spread from wild animals to dairy cows. Since then, 67 Human cases have been reported In several states, including one death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Every human infection raises the possibility of another pandemic like Covid-19.
Most of these infections have occurred in farm workers who have come into contact with infected cows or poultry, except for three cases of unknown origin, which is a worrying trend if we want to keep a lid on this crisis. Public health officials have criticized the Biden administration for not properly handling and monitoring the situation. But as Salon previously reported, experts aren’t convinced the situation will improve even under the Trump administration. Now, the temporary freeze is ringing alarm bells for many.
This is the “exact opposite” of how the CDC is supposed to work right now.
“It is of great concern that CDC’s communications with physicians and local and state health departments are being forced amid a developing situation with avian influenza in the United States.” Health Security, Salon said via email. “There is a need to be more proactive with containing and identifying the spread of H5N1 in the population.”
According to Adalja, this is “the exact opposite” of how the CDC should be operating right now.
In a statement to Salon, when asked about this and how it will affect bird flu surveillance, a CDC spokesperson said that “HHS has made extensive communications and public issued a moratorium on exposures not directly related to an emergency or critical to health preservation.”
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“This is a short break to allow the new team to review and formulate a process for prioritization,” the statement read. “There are exceptions for declarations that HHS divisions believe are mission critical, but they will be made on a case-by-case basis.”
Dr. Rajendram Rajanaryanan of the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Arkansas, told Salon that he sincerely hopes the pause is short, as the memo states, and that the administration provides clarity during the transition. can do He pointed out that the pause is not unusual.
A similar temporary freeze was implemented earlier during presidential transitions. These breaks typically allow incoming leadership to review agency activities and align them with new priorities. “However, the lack of clarity in terms of scope, duration and implementation — especially concerns about potential delays in important public health information — are valid.”
As Caitlin Jatellina, an epidemiologist and newsletter writer Your local epidemiologistexplained in his recent newsletter, the scope of the pause is unusual for public health scientists.
“For example, the CDC’s scientific publication, MMWR [Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report]was not published yesterday,” Jatellina said in her newsletter. “This was the first time in 70 years that this has happened, and it included three findings on the H5N1 (bird flu) outbreak – Biosecurity for Americans an active threat of.”
As recently as Reported by Statmeetings and panels of federal science and health agencies have been abruptly canceled, including gatherings such as the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic Resistance. Rajanarayanan told Salon that the so-called pause would also affect last-minute postponements of training workshops and grant proposal review panels.
“It also affects the early rollout of the NIH grant review process, which initiates a simplified peer review framework for most research project grants,” Rajanarayanan said. “At the very least, these gaps create uncertainty and anxiety among researchers and NIH staff.”
However, for H5N1, Rajanarayanan said states are still reporting cases and affected by herd and house counts.
“So we’ll still get the information, but it won’t show up in any integrated national-level report at the agency level,” Rajanarayanan said.
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