Will Stone

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"I was baffled and incredibly frustrated," she recalls. "It feels like they are promoting the field while ripping out the foundation" says @smbrander.bsky.social

Trump cuts demolish agency focused on toxic chemicals and workplace hazards The Trump administration has decimated an agency responsible for carrying out much of the research and prevention efforts to curb exposure to dangerous substances and situations in the workplace.

"The agency is instrumental in funding and advancing research on carcinogens and other dangerous substances — a concern that Secretary Kennedy and President Trump have brought up repeatedly in their pitch to Make America Healthy Again."

With CDC injury prevention team gutted, 'we will not know what is killing us' Workers who track data on car crashes, drownings, traumatic brain injury, falls in the elderly, and other perils lost their jobs. Advocates worry life-saving work will stop.

"Last week, the CDC shuttered a long-running initiative that offered a broad picture of injuries across the country based on ER records collected from about 100 hospitals."

This particular data source was unique because it provided real-time monitoring of non-fatal injuries."

With CDC injury prevention team gutted, 'we will not know what is killing us' Workers who track data on car crashes, drownings, traumatic brain injury, falls in the elderly, and other perils lost their jobs. Advocates worry life-saving work will stop.

With CDC injury prevention team gutted, 'we will not know what is killing us.' Workers who track data on car crashes, drownings, traumatic brain injury, falls in the elderly, and other perils lost their jobs. Advocates worry life-saving work will stop. www.npr.org/sections/sho... via @npr.org

If bird flu jumps to humans, immunity from seasonal flu may offer some protection Very few humans have gone up against bird flu. But we've all dealt with seasonal flu for years. Some of our immune systems might be primed to fend off a worse case, research finds.

#Immunity from seasonal flu may offer some protection to #bird #flu if it jumps to humans ...

| #AvianInfluenza | #BirdFlu | #AvianFlu | #pathogen | #publichealth | By @wstonereports.bsky.social via @npr.org

How vulnerable might humans be to bird flu? Scientists see hope in existing immunity Very few humans have gone up against bird flu. But we've all dealt with seasonal flu for years. Some of our immune systems might be primed to fend off a worse case, research finds.

The findings offer some reassurance. Antibodies and other players in the immune system may buffer the worst consequences of bird flu, at least in some people.

"While this is a bit of a silver lining, it doesn't mean we should all feel safe."

5 years since the pandemic started, long COVID patients are still hoping for a cure They're pushing for more funding to find effective treatments. Researchers are finally starting to make headway but have a way to go.

Research on long COVID has coalesced around a handful of explanations for what could underpin the illness, but that hasn't yet translated into major breakthroughs for patients who need care.

"I want to underscore just how unprecedented — how abnormal all of this is," one longtime #NIH official told @npr.org "This is not how we operate."

In a sudden reversal, CDC rescinds some staff firings Some employees who were previously fired received emails saying they're "clear to return to work."

NEW: w/ @npr.org @pien-huang.bsky.social

Just a few weeks after summarily firing hundreds of employees, the Trump administration is now notifying some staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that they're back on the job.

"None of this is normal," said one CDC employee.

Upheaval and firings at CDC raise fears about disease outbreak response Staff and observers worry that the agency may not be prepared for emerging threats including bird flu and insect-borne diseases.

Ebola screening for travelers, testing for insect-borne diseases, support for state/local health depts -- all impacted by CDC job cuts

w/
@wstonereports.bsky.social

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Upheaval and firings at CDC raise fears about disease outbreak response Staff and observers worry that the agency may not be prepared for emerging threats including bird flu and insect-borne diseases.

Recent mass firings, primarily aimed at new and temporary workers, have thinned the ranks of the workforce that would aid in the response to outbreaks.

"In my 24 years at the CDC, I have never seen the morale hit that is going on right now," said former CDC official Dr Deblina Datta @npr.org

🚨 New MMWR - H5N1 in Michigan Cats 🚨

🐱 Two indoor cats on dairy farms tested positive for H5N1.
😷 Had respiratory & neurological symptoms before euthanasia.
🔗 Likely exposed via infected livestock.
👩‍⚕️ Vets: Ask about farm exposure & use PPE.
📢 Report suspected cases ASAP

www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

Trump administration yanks CDC flu vaccine campaign As flu rages, the Trump administration has pulled the plug on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention flu immunization campaign that targeted high-risk groups, including pregnant women.

The Trump administration's decision to pull the campaign comes in the midst of a brutal flu season that's still raging.

@npr.org story on the latest at CDC @altcdc.bsky.social

FDA staff handling drug safety for pets and livestock lost jobs in Trump firings The fired staffers were tasked with making sure medications given to animals work well and are safe.

One casualty of the mass firings across federal health agencies are regulators who ensure drugs for pets and livestock are safe and effective.

"We want to be able to trust the medications," one FDA staffer said.

Latest for @npr.org with @sydneylupkin.bsky.social

NPR reviewed termination letters sent to staff at the CDC, NIH and FDA.

All of them used similar language and cited inadequate performance as the reason for their firing — yet the employees NPR spoke with had records of stellar work.

Health agencies lose staff members in key areas as Trump firings set in As the dust settles from the first wave of firings at health agencies, here's how many people got cut and the impact of the roles that were lost.

"I'm going to work tomorrow and I don't know who's employed," said one of the CDC staffers, who had yet to receive any official notification about exactly which employees in their division had lost their jobs.

@npr.org @sydneylupkin.bsky.social @pien-huang.bsky.social on the latest at CDC

The cuts also hit the Epidemic Intelligence Service officer corps, where all those in the first year of their service were laid off. Members of the services, whom the CDC calls "disease detectives," are often dispatched to investigate disease outbreaks and public health threats.

Layoffs start at CDC, targeting probationary staff As many as 1,300 probationary employees at CDC are being let go, at the direction of the Trump administration. The cuts represent around 10% of the agency's workforce.

"This is absolutely tragic," said one current CDC employee. "If we lose these people we lose important capacity and in a very real sense we lose our CDC future."

Unease grows at the CDC as Trump administration keeps grip on research, messaging CDC employees can no longer publish documents without review by the executive branch, and must withdraw their names from external papers pending publication.

The situation is far from normal at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even as a clampdown on external communications is starting to ease.

"At this point, the administration is controlling what topics may be covered and which may not."

The U.S. may be missing human cases of bird flu, scientists say Officially, only one person has caught the illness during the current outbreak. But with limited testing, cases could be flying under the radar.

Agree and Dr Gray at UTMB (and others) have been concerned since the spring about this

www.npr.org/sections/hea...

Good question — and I see why you would ask from how it is written — no, just saying that CDC cannot go onto farms and start testing on their own

After delay, CDC releases data signaling bird flu spread undetected in cows and people After going quiet on bird flu, CDC scientists have published a report on its spread among veterinarians. The findings suggest a need for better surveillance.

The journal released data suggesting some spillovers from dairy cattle into humans have gone undetected, including in states where dairy herds have not tested positive.

TOTE ASTRICT COLOR DOCTORS FOR AMERICA, Plaintiff, Civil Action No. 25-322 (JDB) OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT et al., Defendants. ORDER Upon consideration of [6] Plaintiff's motion for a temporary restraining order, [8] Plaintiff's supplemental declarations, [9] Defendants' opposition, [10] Plaintiff's reply, the hearing on February 10, 2025, and the entire record herein, and for the reasons stated in the accompanying Memorandum Opinion, it is hereby ORDERED that 1. Defendants Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control, and Food and Drug Administration (hereinafter "defendants") shall, by not later than 11:59 pm on February 11, 2025, restore to their versions as of January 30, 2025, each webpage and dataset identified by Plaintiff on pages 6-12 of its Memorandum of Law in Support of the Motion for a Restraining Order [ECF No. 6-1]; 2. Defendants shall, in consultation with Plaintiff, identify any other resources that DF A members rely on to provide medical care and that defendants removed or substantially modified on or after January 29, 2025, without adequate notice or reasoned explanation; and defendants shall, by February 14, 2025, restore those resources to their versions as of January 30, 2025;

BREAKING: In response to doctors' lawsuit, Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, orders CDC, NIH, and FDA to put back up websites and datasets cited by the doctors in their lawsuit as having been relied upon and pulled down without notice. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Morale plummets at the CDC as staff fear job losses Staff at the CDC are bracing for a significant reduction in the work force that appears to be targeting staff with the fewest worker protections.

Losing even half of these workers would be "devastating" for the agency's current disease outbreak responses, which includes H5N1 bird flu, measles and mpox, the source said.

Rape crisis centers see funding delays amid Trump administration spending upheaval Groups addressing sexual violence report not getting expected payments from grants that they depend on to keep running.

A disruption in federal funding has imperiled the work of community groups that run rape crisis centers and programs aimed at preventing sexual violence.

Some federal health websites restored, others still down, after data purge While some information has been restored, scientists are still alarmed over the removal of data. It's not clear what has changed, and some pages remain offline.

Thank you for this reporting @wstonereports.bsky.social
With quotes from me, @meganranney.bsky.social, Perry Halkitis, Nirav Shah and others. These data keep everyone safe!
www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Senator calls RFK Jr.'s position on race and vaccines dangerous In one of the most tense exchanges in a heated confirmation hearing, Senator Angela Alsobrooks called out past comments RFK Jr. made suggesting a different vaccine schedule for Black people.

The study's own author tells NPR the data doesn't support a change in vaccine schedule based on race.

An Anti-Vaccine Film Targeted To Black Americans Spreads False Information A recent movie produced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine group tries to capitalize on the COVID-19 pandemic, the racial justice movement and renewed interest in the history of medical racism.

www.npr.org/sections/hea...

How would RFK Jr. handle bird flu? His record on vaccines has experts on edge Trump's pick for health secretary has a record of attacking vaccines. In fact he's even taken direct aim at bird flu shots. Some scientists fear this doesn't bode well in case of a crisis.

From @wstonereports.bsky.social w/ @npr.org: Experts share concerns on possible #birdflu pandemic @JenniferNuzzo highlights that Americans will "demand" vaccines, given just how deadly this virus might be.

If a pandemic occurs, the US may struggle to produce vaccines quickly.

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