Staff of CDC flagship publication axed amid shutdown firings

WASHINGTON — Staff members responsible for the CDC’s primary publication have been dismissed in response to significant budget cuts within the Health and Human Services Department, as promised by the White House during the ongoing government shutdown, according to sources familiar with the developments.

Most of the personnel from the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), often referred to as the “voice of the CDC,” have been let go, former editor-in-chief Charlotte Kent disclosed to STAT on Saturday, marking her first public comments since her departure from the agency in February. Four other individuals aware of the layoffs corroborated that MMWR team members have been affected.

These layoffs are part of a wider series of terminations instituted by the Trump administration, which declared its intent to cut federal jobs associated with “Democrat” initiatives, according to the president’s statements, as the shutdown continues to progress.

An anonymous administration source informed STAT that while the publication itself is not closed down, Kent asserted that the layoffs have rendered MMWR effectively incapable of publishing.

“This essentially means that we cannot quickly share crucial public health science for timely action,” Kent stated. “This capability is vital during a public health emergency. A primary mission of MMWR is to swiftly circulate information to assist state and local officials in their responses.”

Since the onset of the government shutdown on October 1, the weekly report has ceased operations. Additional elements of the report, such as supplementary and longer format articles, have also been hindered.

Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting director of the CDC, commented on Saturday that the layoffs “will leave health officials and communities unaware of infectious disease threats and updates on critical issues like vaccination and maternal mortality.”

Before the shutdown, MMWR had already endured other alterations initiated by the Trump administration: Kent noted that under Trump’s leadership, the publication experienced its first-ever interruption in its regular release schedule, attributed to a communications freeze, alongside pressures from administration officials to modify how reports presented information.

MMWR has disseminated some of the most pivotal public health notifications in recent times, including the initial report on AIDS and early alerts about the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. It also published a study on how officials monitored lead poisoning in applesauce pouches in 2023, alongside being the first to disclose the asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19.

“Those kinds of revelations have enormous policy implications,” Kent remarked.

“What’s the current status of cancer? What about coronary heart disease? We currently lack the tools to adequately report on those issues, and that’s quite troubling,” she expressed.

Reporting contributed by Helen Branswell.