CDC communication breakdown raises public health risk

Editor's Note

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has gone largely silent under new federal oversight, stalling disease alerts, halting newsletters, and freezing social media updates even as outbreaks and chronic health issues persist across the US. NPR reported the news May 21.

As detailed in the article, the CDC’s Health Alert Network has not issued updates since mid-March, and more than 150 health newsletters have stopped distribution. Anonymous CDC sources told NPR they now feel "functionally unable" to operate communications, noting that messages once rapidly deployed by internal teams must now be cleared by the department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—a process that creates long delays or blocks content entirely. Even urgent updates about ongoing listeria and measles outbreaks have been caught in this bottleneck.

Previously, CDC communication staff could issue social media posts, email alerts, and newsletter content without external approval. But emails obtained by NPR confirm that HHS now owns and controls the CDC’s major social media accounts—including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X—and is not currently accepting new content for those channels. The result, employees say, is that health professionals and the public are not receiving timely updates on disease spread, preventive guidelines, or chronic illness surveillance.

 In April 2024, the CDC posted more than 90 updates on X. In April 2025, it posted fewer than five. Meanwhile, critical data—like HIV prevention statistics—have been delayed or omitted from CDC publications, sometimes due to staffing reductions in specialized divisions, NPR reports. These disruptions coincided with a major reduction in force on April 1, when the CDC lost nearly all of its press liaisons, digital media staff, and records specialists. According to several workers, the agency was temporarily locked out of its own social media accounts after the employees who managed account credentials were let go.

The outlet also highlights growing concern that the CDC’s communications have shifted from evidence-based public health to politically influenced messaging. For example, one post from the CDC's X account praised a cabinet secretary’s visit to Texas but contained no scientific content. CDC insiders say they had no role in drafting the message, and several employees described the new direction as “propaganda.” According to Kevin Griffis, former CDC communications director, the move away from public health messaging toward political amplification undermines credibility and puts lives at risk.

Experts quoted in the article stress that the consequences of silence can be fatal. Additional detail in the full report includes specific examples of health topics routinely posted by CDC, discrepancies in HHS public statements on the mater, and more specific comparative data on the drop in social media activity.