- CDC halts testing for more than two dozen serious diseases like rabies and monkeypox.
- Severe staffing cuts have hollowed out key laboratories.
- The pause leaves a gap in America's early warning system for outbreaks.
- Experts warn this could delay detection of dangerous infections.
- The unprecedented move follows years of scrutiny over CDC lab operations.
The nation’s premier public health agency has quietly halted its diagnostic testing for more than two dozen serious diseases, including rabies and monkeypox, leaving a gap in America’s early warning system for outbreaks. This unprecedented pause, initiated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comes in the wake of severe staffing cuts that have hollowed out key laboratories. While officials call the move a temporary quality review, experts warn the disruption could delay the detection of dangerous infections.
A list released by the CDC shows tests for rabies, monkeypox, varicella zoster virus, and herpesvirus, among others, are currently unavailable. The agency regularly tests specimens for states and other federal partners who lack the capability to diagnose rare or complex pathogens.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services framed the decision as procedural. "Several infectious disease tests are temporarily paused as CDC evaluates these assays as part of our routine review to uphold our commitment to high quality laboratory testing," the spokesperson said. "We anticipate some of these tests will be available through CDC labs again in the coming weeks."
An untimely pause
However, Scott Becker, chief executive officer of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, said this pause is different. "This is not the first time the CDC has paused some of its lab testing. But it is pausing more kinds of tests than ever before, and it is not totally clear why," Becker told The Associated Press. He noted that reasons can include an ongoing evaluation of testing that has been taking place since 2024, as well as issues with staffing.
Those staffing issues are significant. The CDC has undergone a dramatic downsizing in the past year through layoffs, retirements, and resignations, resulting in a net loss of roughly 3,000 workers. Key labs were hit especially hard. According to the National Public Health Coalition, an organization of former and current CDC workers, the poxvirus and rabies labs lost about half their prior staff. The agency’s malaria branch was gutted even more.
Gaps in the safety net
The paused tests include those for common infections with commercial alternatives, like Epstein-Barr virus and the virus behind chickenpox and shingles. But the list also includes testing for exotic agents like the parasitic worms responsible for schistosomiasis, or "snail fever." For many state health departments, the CDC is the only place that can confirm such diagnoses.
Some states with advanced labs are attempting to fill the void. A spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health said its Wadsworth Center facility has stepped in to assist with antibody testing for viruses including influenza, pox and rabies. However, the spokesperson warned the pause might delay disease detection.
Becker said the situation is "concerning, only if it’s permanent." He noted that specialized state labs in places like New York and California can absorb some of the work, but not all states have that capacity.
This development follows years of scrutiny over the CDC’s laboratory operations, which were faulted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency’s testing protocols were the subject of a subsequent internal review. The current mass pause suggests systemic problems run deeper than a simple quality check.
The image of a depleted CDC, unable to perform basic diagnostic functions for diseases like rabies, marks a troubling moment for American public health. It raises a fundamental question about preparedness: who is watching for the next outbreak when the watchtower is understaffed and its instruments are offline? The promise of tests returning in "coming weeks" offers little comfort in a world where a pathogen can cross continents in days. The true test will be whether the agency can restore both its capabilities and the eroded trust that its vigilance is supposed to guarantee.
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