
Media outlets today, citing unnamed federal sources, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been notified that 1,300 probationary employees will be cut as part of the Trump administration's effort to cut the federal workforce.
The number of employees represents about one tenth of the agency's workforce and comes as the nation grapples with one of the worst flu seasons in the past decade and amid an ongoing threat to animals and humans from H5N1 avian influenza. The CDC has some of the world's top scientists, known for their work on global health threats such as Ebola virus.
Cuts part of wider federal public health job losses
CDC officials learned of the cuts this morning in a meeting with officials from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Probationary employees include not just newer workers, but also those who were promoted to new management positions, according to the Associated Press.
CBS News reported on social media that the cuts include the most recent class of Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, a group trained as the CDC's elite disease detectives.
The job losses at the CDC are part of a broader cut of about 5,200 positions across other government public health agencies that also includes the National Institutes of Health, Stat reported today. They come a day after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as HHS secretary. In the past, Kennedy has suggested that the federal health agencies refocus away from infectious diseases and toward chronic diseases and lifestyle health actions.