Trump administration excludes researchers from global discussion of virus outbreaks

Authorities responsible for leading US research into infectious disease threats were prevented from communicating directly with the WHO (World Health Organization), according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN.

Effectively, this excluded some of them from global discussions about virus outbreaks.

Donald Trump's administration issued the directive that prevents individuals from Niaid (US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) from communicating with the WHO.

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The federal health subagency was led for decades by Dr. Anthony Fauci and oversaw the development of treatments for public health emergencies, including HIV/AIDS and Covid-19.

This ban remains in effect amid a hantavirus outbreak that some Americans have been exposed to.

Communications restrictions were slightly relaxed last week as another virus outbreak - a developing Ebola epidemic centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - intensified.

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Now, some Niaid members can participate in virtual WHO meetings, but only in small groups and in a "listening capacity," according to a May 18 email from a senior Niaid official that was sent to the team, seen by CNN.

Any follow-up to these meetings would be handled by the Department of Health and Human Services, Niaid's parent agency.

"We will operate in the same way for Ebola as we have for Hantavirus, bringing together a small group of experts - no more than three - to participate," the email said.

"If we have legitimate research questions or ideas for countermeasure testing, we can present them through the appropriate chain of command," it added.

The restrictions hinder rapid cooperation with global counterparts, several current and former health officials said. One of the sources called the situation unprecedented during public health emergencies.

US retreat from participation in health forums
The directive is part of a broader Trump administration retreat from participation in global health forums - the US withdrew from the WHO in January at the president's direction, a move widely criticized by public health officials.

In addition, many U.S. health agencies currently operate with acting chiefs.

Vacant positions include the director of the infectious diseases agency; the general surgeon; the head of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration); the assistant secretary of health; and the head of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - a leadership vacuum that observers say is unprecedented.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the agency "engages with the WHO to support information sharing and coordination during infectious disease outbreaks" through the CDC - which is present during disease outbreaks - and is "fully equipped to protect Americans and mitigate risks."

"Teams across the department coordinate key response areas, including contact tracing, diagnostics and medical countermeasures, to avoid duplication and reduce confusion in outbreak response efforts," the spokesperson said.

Health leadership vacuum
When American passengers from a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak disembarked in Nebraska, it was Assistant Health Secretary Brian Christine who was sent to the Omaha hospital where patients were being monitored.

Christine is not in charge of the government's hantavirus response, but was sent as the public face of the federal administration because a higher-level health official was unavailable, according to a source.

Earlier this month, Trump nominated his third candidates for both surgeon general and CDC director.

The position of surgeon general - commonly known as the nation's doctor - has never been filled under this administration.

The CDC's only confirmed director served for less than a month.

It is unlikely that the positions will be filled anytime soon. Documentation for Senate confirmation has not yet been filed for either, and there is no immediate plan to take the nominees to legislative hearings, according to people familiar with the logistics.

The FDA lost its commissioner this month, and several senior CDC officials left the agency last year and were not replaced.

The fact that all of this is happening at the same time is an unprecedented moment for national health leadership, the doctor said. Dan Jernigan, a former CDC official who resigned after US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed Dr. Susan Monarez, this administration's only confirmed director of the agency, last August.

"In my 31 years at CDC" there has never been a time like this, Jernigan said, noting that a number of other senior positions are also vacant.

The restrictions imposed on Niaid come at a time when the department is also leaderless.

The institute had been led by an interim director, pathologist Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger, since April 2025 - but two Democratic senators revealed at a hearing last week that he had stepped down. The U.S. Department of Health declined to comment on Taubenberger's departure.

When asked about leadership vacancies, a department spokesperson said the agency has made "historic" progress over the past year and that the health department "looks forward to the rapid confirmation of current nominees."

Broken response chains
Limited cooperation with the WHO is a remnant of Trump and Republican frustration with the organization's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International and a former State Department official in the Obama and Biden administrations.

Communications chains that previously existed but have now been eliminated would have alerted US health authorities earlier to the developing Ebola crisis, Konyndyk said.

"We have public health leaders in this country now who have discarded most global health institutions," he pointed out.

At the same time, several of the medical organizations present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries have been seriously damaged.

They were previously funded by the US Agency for International Development, a division of the State Department that was dismantled amid sweeping cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency last year.

"If there were multiple U.S. government health partners identifying clusters of unexplained viral hemorrhagic fever, they would have escalated this up the chain," he commented.

"Except they didn't really have anyone else to escalate this to in the hierarchy," Konyndyk said.

A senior State Department official rejected the argument that a U.S. withdrawal from the WHO, American funding cuts or the dismantling of USAID would have hindered the identification of or response to the Ebola outbreak.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly blamed the WHO for not alerting the public to the Ebola outbreak sooner.

Last week, the UN agency raised its assessment of the risk level of the Ebola outbreak from "high" to "very high" in the Democratic Republic of Congo. International risk remains low.

No cases have been reported in the US, but flights to the US carrying passengers who have recently been to the Ebola-affected region must, depending on departure time, land at one of three airports selected for screening:

- Dulles International Airport, near Washington
- George Bush Intercontinental, in Houston
- or Hartsfield-Jackson International, in Atlanta

An American doctor contracted the disease in Africa.

He is being treated in a German hospital, where his family is also in quarantine. Another American is being monitored.

The CDC said it was working "around the clock" with partners to address the Ebola outbreak and planned to send seven experts from Atlanta to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to provide assistance.

No cases of hantavirus have been identified in the US, but 18 people who were passengers on the ship where the outbreak occurred remain in quarantine in Nebraska.

Dozens of other people who disembarked the ship before the outbreak was confirmed are under monitoring, as are people who were on flights with confirmed cases.

*CNN's Adam Cancryn, Jennifer Hansler, Brenda Goodman and Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report

What we know about the Ebola outbreak that the WHO has declared a global emergency

Source: CNN