United States: Recent workforce cuts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have forced the closure of several key labs—most notably, the only U.S. facility responsible for genetic testing in hepatitis outbreak investigations. The termination of 27 specialized scientists has halted essential surveillance of hepatitis C outbreaks, many of which have emerged in settings like dialysis centers, outpatient clinics, and prisons, as reported by HealthDay.
“This first-of-its-kind surveillance has come to a stop, leaving public health officials in the dark,” warned Scott Becker of the Association of Public Health Laboratories.
STI Monitoring Dismantled
In addition to hepatitis, the CDC shut down its sole lab for testing antibiotic-resistant sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. The closure involved the dismissal of all 28 STI experts—eliminating the only U.S. facility capable of tracking gonorrhea resistance patterns.
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
“The world has just three such labs, and the U.S. just lost its only one,” noted Kelly Wroblewski of the Association of Public Health Laboratories.
Experts Warn of Consequences
Experts across the country are sounding the alarm. Dr. Judith Feinberg of West Virginia University emphasized that the CDC lab provided critical insight into how hepatitis viruses evolve and spread, which directly shaped public health responses.
Meanwhile, Emory University’s Dr. Colleen Kelley fears the STI lab shutdown will create blind spots in tracking the rise of infections like super gonorrhea. “No one will tell us if we are seeing more cases of this,” she cautioned.
The CDC also laid off the scientists at the only facility that performs genetic sequencing for hepatitis outbreaks. Viral hepatitis is the leading cause of liver cancer. Recent outbreaks have been linked to dialysis centers, outpatient surgery clinics, pain clinics and prisons. pic.twitter.com/1jMJbhe1ne
— Emily A. The Spirit of Jezebel (@emzorbit) April 18, 2025
A Growing Threat, Unchecked
The U.S. diagnosed more than 2 million STI cases in 2023 with gonorrhea accounting for 600,000 of the total diagnoses. Rates of gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis grew by 90% in the last twenty years while hepatitis continues to cause liver cancer among Americans which results in preventable deaths, as reported by HealthDay.
Yet now, the systems designed to track and control these diseases are gone.