In the middle of a hepatitis outbreak, U.S. shutters the one CDC lab that could help

Source: NPR

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The scientists at the lab knew what they were doing. Quickly, they analyzed the blood from Florida using their custom software and found that nine cases were genetically linked to the same pain clinic, where it was later discovered that a doctor was improperly reusing injection vials. By March, officials in Florida had restricted the doctor's medical license to limit the spread of the virus and packaged new patient samples to send to the CDC for testing, CDC employees told NPR.

But on April 1, the outbreak investigation was brought to a halt. All 27 of the lab's scientists received an email from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services informing them that they were losing their jobs. Like thousands of other employees who received similar emails that day, the scientists were told they would be placed on administrative leave until June 2, after which they would no longer work for the CDC.

The email said their duties were "identified as either unnecessary or virtually identical to duties being performed elsewhere in the agency." But the kind of genetic tracing that the CDC's lab performs is not conducted by any other lab in the United States or the world, experts interviewed by NPR said.

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The lab's computer genomic analysis program – called the Global Hepatitis Outbreak and Surveillance Technology, or GHOST – is also in limbo. That's the program that allowed scientists to link the genetic information from patients in Florida to the doctor's office where the infections spread. More than 20 other states access the CDC's GHOST technology remotely by uploading their own samples directly to the program. But the system, which was built with help from a more than $6 million dollar allocation from Congress, is not fully remote. To function correctly, and to allow the program to keep improving itself with artificial intelligence, it requires frequent in-person maintenance by scientists working at high-end computer stations located at the CDC, said four CDC employees who work with the technology.

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Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5355131/hepatitis-cdc-lab-outbreak-ghost