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This is not a drill (or a grotesque April Fool’s Joke). The US Federal public health infrastructure is being destroyed.
Per news outlets this morning, thousands of CDC scientists, public health experts, and federal employees arrived at work to find that their building access was revoked. Yes, literally. Many Federal employees learned that they no longer had jobs when their ID badges did not allow them access to their building this morning.
Employees were notified they were eliminated in a “reduction in force,” or RIF. No warning. No hearings. Just shuttered programs, discarded expertise, and the collapse of our public health infrastructure directed by RFK Jr., one of the most dangerous anti-science grifters in human history.
I want to be very, explicitly, clear — for anyone who still thinks the MAHA movement cares about health in any way, shape or form:
This will not improve public health.
This will worsen health outcomes.
The fallout will last for generations—if we are able to reverse any of this.And this will spread well beyond the US. This will have global impact.
The CDC was created, and exists, to keep Americans safe.
The CDC was founded in 1946 to combat malaria in the southern United States. Originally called the Communicable Disease Center, it was born out of the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA) which protected US soldiers during World War II training in the southeast US, because malaria was here back then.
It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia for this very reason. Malaria was prevalent in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and the Carolinas. In the 1940s, it had about 400 employees with a primary focus on mosquito control to clamp down on malaria: insecticide use, mosquito netting distribution (the same ones used where malaria is still endemic), and addressing breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
CDC staff and its responsibilities grew quickly — because there were other urgent public health needs. Polio, smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, and syphilis were major threats. Major causes of illness and death among people. The CDC existed even before the first polio vaccine was licensed in 1955 in the US.
The CDC created the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) in 1951—the field-based “disease detectives” that track patterns of disease to better understand cause, effect, and intervention methods.
Before the CDC, there was no coordinated national system for disease tracking, response, or vaccination. No national lab network to confirm diagnoses for diseases. There wasn’t a centralized database of science and health data. There definitely wasn’t any public health communications infrastructure.
Before the CDC, the U.S. was flying blind through epidemics and disease ran wild across state lines. By the end of the 1950s, the CDC had:
Virtually eliminated malaria in the U.S.
Responded to outbreaks of polio, influenza, and smallpox.
Laid the groundwork for the U.S. immunization infrastructure.
Developed rapid field response capabilities for disease outbreaks
Started to become a national hub for disease tracking and prevention.
Since then, the CDC has become a cornerstone of US public health. We know have infrastructure and systems to monitor, detect, respond to, and prevent disease— and not just communicable diseases.
The CDC has departments that focus on preventing and reducing chronic disease burden including cancers, lifestyle factors that impact health, protect workplace safety, ensure children have safe environments, and collective and community health.
The CDC falls under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services, a Federal Government-run agency. That means CDC is also potentially influenced by the political leadership of a given moment in time.
The CDC isn’t perfect. No institution is.
I wrote about the same regarding the WHO below when Trump withdrew from WHO:
But while the CDC is not perfect and I could list a dozen improvements easily, the CDC works—and it does that primarily through the career scientists and health professionals that have dedicated their lives to these health questions.
Today, those people were told they’re disposable. Not just disposable, unnecessary. And they were told that by people who don’t know a drop of science or health, and have chosen to cut thousands of jobs and entire departments, all of which will cause irreparable harm to those individuals, their family, and our society.
This plan, masterminded by RFK Jr, was never a secret.
Let’s not pretend this came out of nowhere. RFK Jr. has been telling us for years exactly what he intends to do, which is why, myself and other scientists who have worked in biomedical and public health fields, have been sounding the alarm, all while media outlets have sanitized his history and the damage he has done for years.
RFK Jr. has spent DECADES profiting off these conspiracies:
He continues to spread the lie that vaccines cause autism, even while measles cases are surging in the US.
He denies HIV causes AIDS but rather, a 'gay lifestyle' and using poppers (amyl nitrite) are the cause.
He denies germ theory of disease and insists infectious diseases aren't a threat to our health.
He claims vaccine research is to blame to the 1918 flu pandemic and for HIV.
He asserts the water supply is filled with chemicals that are turning kids trans.
He has spread the myth that 5G & Wi-Fi break down the blood-brain barrier to leak ‘toxins’ into the brain and cause cancer.
He states vaccines cause allergies & chronic illness, in addition to them causing autism and being dangerous.
He says that diseases like COVID-19 and Lyme disease were lab-created bioweapons.
He spreads the lie that fluoridated water causes neurological damage, even when he used to sell bottled water that had double the fluoride levels.
He claimed Bill Gates was going to insert tracking chips in COVID-19 vaccines to link to your bank account.
He alleges a myriad of substances are 'toxic' and are causing chronic illnesses and cancer without evidence.
He claims that genetic engineering and conventional farming is causing cancer, autoimmune disease, and other health issues
He promotes organic farming, which is not healthier, not more affordable, not safer, and not better for the environment
He claims “synthetic chemicals” are bad while promoting the use of synthetic wellness chemicals (like methylene blue)
He argues mass shootings are linked to anti-depressants.
AND he convinces people that public health institutions are part of a plot to control American lives.
He and others who spread medical conspiracism undermine regulatory agencies by claiming they are corrupt, “wasteful,” bloated, and “in bed with Big Pharma.”
These are lies. The very ones RFK Jr. has fabricated for decades to undermine trust in science and public health institutions.
The CDC was given a discretionary budget of $9.683 billion for 2025.
That is 0.14% of the Federal government budget—$7.0 trillion for 2025.
Let me say that again. The CDC budget is 0.14 percent of the entire Federal budget for the year.
For every $100 spent by the federal government, the CDC gets just 14 cents.
This has nothing to do with getting rid of wasteful spending. He has repeatedly said that he intends to get rid of entire departments at health agencies.
His goal isn’t to improve the CDC. It’s to erase it. And now he is doing exactly that.
The cuts are extensive—and it will cause irreparable harm to science, public health, and humanity
Media outlets and CDC sources have released countless programs, departments, and divisions that were gutted this morning. A non-exhaustive list includes:
The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Suicide: The NCIPC focuses on gun violence, drug overdoses, falls, and other injuries — which are leading causes of death in the US, especially among certain demographics. The NCIPC funds prevention strategies that save lives, especially among youth populations, rural communities, and other disadvantaged populations.
In fact, gun violence is the NUMBER ONE cause of death among children in the US today. Today, this was determined to be unimportant. So please don’t ever say “MAHA” cares about the health of children.
The Division of HIV Prevention: This arm of the CDC focuses on grassroots community activities to get HIV prevention, education, and treatment resources to people. This includes providing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), support and fund free testing clinics, and run public education programs about how to reduce the risk of HIV infection and transmission.
In 1981, the CDC published the first case reports of pneumocystis pneumonia. This is a rare infection that occurs among immunocompromised people (in this case, when HIV infection leads to immune system collapse and AIDS).
The CDC is the organization that tracked case reports, identified patterns in cases, and understood that risky activities (injection drug use, unprotected sexual activity) were linked to case clusters of HIV, even before we fully understood the virus.
The CDC is the organization that launched comprehension prevention programs to tackle HIV: promoting condom use and providing free condoms, educating people on how to use them correctly and HOW condoms prevent transmission of HIV, initiating needle exchange programs, implementing behavioral intervention programs to reduce transmission risk.
The CDC developed programs and testing protocols for HIV screening to better identify infections earlier and implement precautions to reduce transmission.
The CDC supported the development and dissemination of antiretroviral therapies. These medications interfere with the HIV lifecycle, and have single-handedly transformed HIV from being a certain death sentence to a manageable (and often undetectable) condition. Because of the CDC, HIV is no longer a death sentence, when it was less than 40 years ago.
Because of the CDC, HIV infection rates continue to decline. New HIV infections in the US declined by another 12% between 2017 and 2021, thanks to CDC-funded testing, education, PrEP access, and public health campaigns.
Over 500,000 people receive HIV care through CDC-supported programs every year.
Now? RFK Jr and the Trump Administration has decided this doesn’t matter. I guess chronic disease isn’t a thing they actually care about?
The Division of Population Health: The DPH tracks patterns in chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and asthma. The DPH is integral in helping to develop policies that focus on health disparities especially those linked to social determinants of health. Their data is critical to inform scientists, healthcare providers, and—in a rational government, policymakers.
Universal healthcare that would reduce health inequities? DPH would contribute to those data. Information related to particulate matter in the air that may exacerbate asthma or respiratory conditions? DPH contributes to that too. Improving food accessibility to address lifestyle diseases? DPH works on that too.
All of that is gone now.
I know what you’re thinking: RFK Jr said he was going to ignore infectious diseases to only focus on chronic diseases, right? Well, he’s a liar. He has been for 40+ years.
Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice (DEHSP): You guessed it, this division focuses on the safety of our environments — our housing (materials, infrastructure, safety codes), air, drinking water, environmental disasters, industrial accidents. That falls to DEHSP.
For the influencers that like to scream that “all the chemicals” are toxic, getting rid of this division is wild hypocrisy, right?
Division of Reproductive Health: The US has THE WORST maternal mortality in all developed nations, and it is getting worse. The DRH is the division that tracks maternal deaths, pregnancy complications, teen pregnancy statistics, infant mortality and health outcomes.
Well, we know that reproductive health isn’t a priority, but erasing this just adds further cruelty — and should really underscore that RFK Jr does NOT care about children’s health. At all.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): NIOSH is literally the only Federal agency that preserves worker safety and health in the workplace. If you have a job, you’ve been impacted by NIOSH. NIOSH oversees:
Workplace safety research to identify and prevent injuries and illnesses on the job
Exposure assessments to monitor and regulate hazards like chemicals, noise, heat, and airborne particles
Personal protective equipment (PPE) standards, testing, and certification (e.g. N95 respirators) for anyone in a job sector who may need those
Occupational disease surveillance to identify potential work-related illnesses like black lung or silicosis
Industry-specific safety guidelines for fields like agriculture, construction, mining, and healthcare
Worker health equity to ensure vulnerable and underserved worker populations have resources to address potential added safety risk
Emergency response and disaster support including training, guidance, and precautions for first responders
NIOSH helps ensure Americans don’t die on the job. That’s gone now.
Other cuts have also been reported, including major programs focused on infectious diseases like viral hepatitis (did you know that hepatitis B causes 30% of liver cancers?), sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, and HIV prevention. Other programs focused on vaccines (obviously) as well as respiratory diseases (both communicable and non-communicable), environmental health, global health, and chronic diseases have all been on the chopping block today.
National centers that do disease surveillance were also gutted. These centers track circulating viral variants (need I remind you that H5N1 avian flu is rampant and we are just emerging from winter respiratory virus season?), help deploy and distribute vaccines, monitor wastewater for potential disease spread.
Dozens of programs. Thousands of employees. All of these things are “wasteful” according to RFK Jr. and the Trump Administration. Yet all of these things are the reason we have improved quality and quantity of life today.
Gutting public health will cause preventable illness and death for generations.
Without these CDC employees and departments, there will be:
More disease and death. Defunding vaccine programs and undermining the millions of lives saved by vaccines will reverse decades of progress in eradicating preventable diseases.
Delayed disease detection: Fewer employees and resources? That means delayed disease outbreak detection, slower response, less surveillance, more disease. That includes all of the communicable diseases: foodborne illness, measles, tuberculosis, you name it.
Worse health outcomes: Instead of promoting evidence-based interventions like vaccines, health screenings, pasteurization, RFK Jr and his MAHA allies promote the exact opposite. But you can’t prevent measles with kale and quinoa.
Worse health equity: We are only as safe and healthy as the most vulnerable populations. Gutting these programs will make all of us less safe and less healthy. Underserved and low income individuals, already struggling with systemic barriers to care will suffer more than they already are.
Increased healthcare costs: With more illness and death, and since we live in a capitalist society with a for-profit health insurance industry, increased medical needs and cost will be distributed amongst all of us.
Loss of institutional expertise: The plan is to eliminate expertise. Firing 20-year veterans of the Epidemic Intelligence Service who’ve led responses to Ebola, Zika, SARS, H1N1, mpox, and COVID-19? That expertise is gone. The relationships they’ve built with state health agencies, tribal nations, global health partners They’re gone now.
Global impact to health: With the US government destroying our domestic health agencies, that means we can no longer contribute to global networks that relied US collaboration.
Destroying the CDC won’t make Americans freer, healthier, or safer. It will do the opposite.
This rhetoric that this is to “empower people with health freedom” is the same disinformation promoted by the $6.3 trillion dollar wellness industry. The outcomes will be more sickness, distrust, confusion, and preventable death.
This is not oversight. This is not reform. This is not “restoring trust.” It is deliberate sabotage that will cost people their lives.
Now, more than ever, we all must join in the fight for science.
Thank you for supporting evidence-based science communication. With outbreaks of preventable diseases, refusal of evidence-based medical interventions, propagation of pseudoscience by prominent public “personalities”, it’s needed now more than ever.
More science education, less disinformation.
- Andrea
You can take action:
Call members of Congress. Demand public hearings on the RIFs and restoration of CDC funding. Call every member of Congress, even if you aren’t a constituent.
Contact media outlets. Demand they stop sanitizing the decades of harm that these appointees have caused.
Tell your state health officials you support them. State health departments rely heavily on CDC funds and expertise.
Support accurate and unsanitized public health journalism.
Support scientists and healthcare providers that stand up for science and evidence-based policy. We are attacked and threatened when we call out the harm of wellness grifters. We need your support.
Vote. At every level. Public health doesn’t survive apathy. If you don’t understand how state and federal governments work, take a crash course.
ImmunoLogic is written by Dr. Andrea Love, PhD - immunologist and microbiologist. She works full-time in life sciences biotech and has had a lifelong passion for closing the science literacy gap and combating pseudoscience and health misinformation as far back as her childhood. This newsletter and her science communication on her social media pages are born from that passion. Follow on Instagram, Threads, Twitter, and Facebook, or support the newsletter by subscribing below:
And the FDA, BARDA and ARPA-H. Our centers of scientific excellence are being gutted.
I can see the day coming when US citizens will be denied entry to many countries because of the collapse of our healthcare systems.