Trump Administration Carries Out Mass Layoffs at CDC, Decimating the Agency

"The Trump administration has carried out mass layoffs of federal public health officials that experts warn will leave the US dangerously unprepared to handle disease outbreaks. As reported by The New York Times, the layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) carried out on Friday night were deep and wide-ranging, and included employees and leaders "in offices addressing respiratory diseases, chronic diseases, injury prevention, and global health.""

"The administration laid off the entire CDC office in Washington, DC, as well as the staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication founded in 1930 that has been credited with the first reporting in medical literature on the disease that would come to be known as AIDS in 1981."

"In addition to this, several dozen Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, commonly known as "disease detectives" who track outbreaks across the world, received their termination notices. Dr. Jeremy Foust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, reported in a post on his personal Substack newsletter that CDC insiders are estimating that "between 1,100 and 1,300 employees are being cut" by the Trump administration."

The Trump administration enacted mass layoffs of federal public health officials at the CDC, cutting employees and leaders across divisions including respiratory diseases, chronic diseases, injury prevention, and global health. The entire CDC office in Washington, DC, and the staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report were laid off. Several dozen Epidemic Intelligence Service officers who track outbreaks worldwide received termination notices. Insiders estimate between 1,100 and 1,300 employees are being cut. Public health experts warn these reductions will weaken outbreak detection, investigation, and response capabilities in the United States.

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