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“HHS’s proclamation that it has abandoned its longstanding policy of seeking public input on its rule making under the Administrative Procedures Act flies in the face of the Trump Administration’s professed mandate for greater transparency. For decades HHS policies affecting public health and research institutions have benefitted from public stakeholder participation in the policy process. Public input is an essential element of the policy process that reflects our nation’s democratic principles. As it always has, COGR stands ready to provide constructive input to HHS policies. I urge HHS to rescind this misguided dictum.”
FDA was given an exemption to coordinate with WHO and other external partners to conduct public health outbreak and emergency response.
Ian Barr, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory [08:15:38]
We’ve had a very careful look at the global situation with all three circulating influenza viruses in the human population.
The H3 component always gives us the most grief. It’s constantly changing and evolving quicker than the other viruses. So it was an appropriate decision to update the H3 to the same virus that we recommended for the Southern hemisphere.
And we do that on the balance of what we expect that these vaccines will cover in the current and emerging viruses in 2025, 2026.
So it is always a balance of what we know and what we don’t know. And we have to make a bit of a judgment call of what’s going to circulate in 9 to 12 months time.
So we do our best and that’s our selection for this particular vaccine update and the other components, the H1 and the B components have been quite stable in terms of the vaccine coverage with the existing vaccine.
So there was no need to update those at this point in time, according to our assessments.
…
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO [08:22:32]
We hope that the pause in the work that we are we’re doing with the U.S. is temporary. And we hope that, um, we will be able to resume that in full force, in the coming weeks.
Wenqing Zhang, WHO [08:22:42]
Just to add to what Maria just said, is that the CDC participated actively in the WHO’s consultation from Monday to Thursday, participating and also contributing with the data that they generated.
…
Wenqing Zhang, WHO [08:24:00]
There was a period of time that CDC– there was period of time that there was no data coming out from CDC.
However, I remember correctly, is that on 14th February, because this date is very special, that CDC released a lot of data in the publicly accessible data platform, like GISAID, the sequence data.
Actually, CDC also shared the data in time as other collaborating, as other institutions in the WHO consultation, data packages makes them available for the consultation.
…
Wenqing Zhang, WHO [08:26:50]
With regards to ERL, you are right that, we have an ERL lab in the CBER FDA.
So CBER FDA is the same as CDC, participated in the vaccine composition consultation that just finished. They contributed again with the data package.
So they participated as in the past.
…
Ian Barr, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory [08:27:19]
H3 is always the bane of our existence. We are trying to keep up with that virus.
In fact, the vaccine effectiveness studies that we have, both the interim ones from the Northern Hemisphere and the final vaccine effectiveness statistics from the Southern Hemisphere show that even though the virus has moved on a little bit, that the H3 vaccine was still relatively effective, both in the Southern Hemisphere, past influenza season and in the Northern Hemisphere current season.
As you know, that in the United States, it’s not just H3N2, which are circulating. There’s also a high level of H1N1 circulating in the country as well.
And so I think, the match is not perfect, but it is a reasonable match and is still the best preventative we have against infection with influenza.
…
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO [08:30:09]
We need to clarify that the U.S. is contributing information to the global influenza surveillance and response system.
There was a temporary pause in information that was coming from U.S. CDC. There was information that was provided to us, and to the system, certainly through, for this meeting in particular, but sequences continue to be shared from the U.S. There’s information that’s coming out from USDA on the animal side.
So I want to be very clear that the U.S. is still contributing.
I know that there’s a lot of attention on the U.S. right now, but we are going to continue to emphasize the importance of this global system that’s in place.
…
Ian Barr, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory [08:32:04]
There was variation in the viruses which circulated globally.
For example, in the most of Europe, it was a predominance of the H1N1 virus. So they had only had a low circulation of H3. China was almost entirely H1N1, and South America had a mixture of H1 and B viruses.
So the mixture was a little different in the U.S. It was in fact quite similar to what we saw in Australia in the last season where we had a mixture of H1 and H3 co circulating throughout the season.
So a very similar season to what we saw in the Southern Hemisphere.
…
Mike Ryan, WHO [00:39:12]
That’s something that we’ve had under intense investigation.
And, when you look at the epi it’s not the same issue that’s occurred previously in southern DR Congo, but there certainly has been a significant event early on, in this situation, in which we had a large clustering of deaths that were mainly focused in young men in a particular village, then there appears to have been an extension of that, but what’s clear for the epidemiology is, as the investigation team broadened their case definition, a lot of other issues, like normal background diseases, malaria and others have become mixed up with that.
Our current assessment of the situation is that what we have is a fairly limited in time and very limited in geography cluster of unusual deaths. It has been proven negative for hemorrhagic fevers. Other samples have been taken, a systematic investigation, looking at all the suspect, even the extremely suspect suspect cases, has been done.
And there clearly is, based on onset of symptomatology to death, it looks and appears very much more like a toxic type of event, either from a biologic perspective, like a meningitis or from a chemical exposure.
And there have been– there is some indication now from the authorities that there’s a very strong level of suspicion of a poisoning event related to the poisoning of a water source, in relation to that specific village. So that’s under investigation by the appropriate authorities in country.
We will continue to investigate. Clearly, and it’s something that, our press officer here at ECA mentioned to me many times, that we are very concerned about these events until we prove that there’s a mixed epidemiology and that many people are dying of malaria and other diseases.
And once we establish that it’s not some major new earth killing virus, we all lose interest. This is a significant set of deaths and disease caused by multiple agents in a vulnerable population. Clearly at the center of this, it would appear that we have some kind of poisoning event.
We will not stop investigating until we’re assured that the risk of that or that the true cause and the absolute cause of what’s here is fully investigated. And we will stay vigilant again, credit to the authorities in the DR Congo.
I think one has to really commend our colleagues who work in DR Congo. I mean, they’re dealing with the situation in north and south Kivu. They’re dealing with an explosive impact situation. They’re dealing with cholera, they’re dealing with meningitis, they’re dealing with malaria. They’re dealing with so many other crises about internal displacement of population.
And yet the provincial response team were able to get to the field. They were able to take samples, not without difficulty logistically, not in any degree of a hundred percent perfection and national response team has– was deployed to support that team with support from WHO embedded staff, and further samples and further investigation has helped elucidate the calls further.
So, what I see here is again our ability collectively to be able to detect and investigate unusual events quickly, is very important. And again, this event was reported into the system and reported internationally. And again, the transparency of the government of DR Congo for me is very, very impressive.
As the investigation of this cluster of cases remains ongoing, and there is no definitive indication of any link to any medication, the Alabama Department of Public Health does not have additional information, at this time.
I read in Bloomberg that the administration is also considering canceling the contracts for Moderna’s bird flu vaccine development as well. Is that true? Wondering if you can clarify whether Vaxart and any other vaccine related development contracts have been stopped.
While it is crucial that the U.S. Department and Health and Human Services support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration’s failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production.
A planned March 13 meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on the influenza vaccine strains for the 2025-2026 influenza season in the northern hemisphere has been cancelled. The FDA will make public its recommendations to manufacturers in time for updated vaccines to be available for the 2025-2026 influenza season.
Question [00:23:31]
Is this $1 billion investment for the approach– where is that money coming from?
…
USDA spokesperson [00:23:55]
This money is from USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation,
Question [00:24:02]
To be clear all $1 billion, is that new money? Or is it from what’s existing in the pot then?
USDA spokesperson [00:24:10]
Yes ma’am. Yes, that’s correct.
…
Question [00:24:31]
So when is the timetable to begin these increased imports and do you– is there any estimation of how many eggs are expected to be imported?
USDA spokesperson [00:24:44]
So we– this press release is the first indication that we have made that we are interested and open to increased imports in this area.
We do know for sure Turkey is already a country that we import from, and they’ve already made a commitment to give us more eggs than they normally have.
Usually they give us about 70 million and we’re anticipating them this year to give about 420 million. So we do know that Turkey is a country that we are already importing from.
We are open to those conversations. We also want to be realistic that whoever we do end up importing from, if anyone else, that they have to have certain safety considerations in place as well for the American consumer.
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Question [00:25:51]
Will the USDA be making these purchases directly? Or will there be subsidizing any sort of private purchases?
USDA spokesperson [00:26:00]
We’re not subsidizing any private purchases.
The NIH Center for Scientific Review can begin sending notices incrementally to the Office of the Federal Register to advertise meetings of scientific review groups/study sections and begin their resumption. CSR will submit Federal Register Notices (FRNs) for the next 50 meetings. FRNs for other types of meetings subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, such as National Advisory Councils/Boards and Boards of Scientific Counselors, remain on hold.
Is it true that two people have died from measles this year, as Secretary Kennedy said at the White House?
CDC is aware of the death of one child in Texas from measles, and our thoughts are with the family. CDC continues to provide technical assistance, laboratory support, and vaccines as needed to the Texas Department of State Health Services and New Mexico Department of Health, which are leading the response to this outbreak.
57:09 KENNEDY: We are following the measles epidemic every day.
I think there’s 124 people who have contracted measles at this point in Gaines County Texas, mainly, we’re told in the Mennonite community.
There are two people who have died, but– we’re watching and there are about 20 people hospitalized mainly for quarantine.
We’re watching it, we put out a post on it yesterday and we’re going to continue to follow it.
Incidentally, there have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country, last year there were 16.
So it’s not unusual ot have measles outbreaks every year.
00:11:47.000 KAILEE BULLER, USDA
So that really details our five-prong approach. We look forward to rolling it out later today.
I do have two experts with me here today who can further discuss the plan and take further questions.
But we really look forward to being your partner and working through this plan together. We will be having biweekly public calls for you all to continue to track our progress, for us to share with you all what we’re working on and for you to share with us.
Those will be open to Congressional folks, stakeholders, media. So you all will hear from us until further notice bi-weekly.
We also will be soliciting public solutions involving governors, state departments of ag, state veterinarians, poultry and dairy farmers to really talk about the therapeutics, the vaccines, the logistics, surveillance, to make sure that whatever way we end up doing this, we’re doing it the best way we can to contain the situation.
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00:13:01.000 MIKE WATSON, APHIS
As Kailee mentioned, we’re looking this morning to share some tools that will help us combat what’s been an unprecedented outbreak of HPAI and poultry.
We’re entering year four of an epidemic that started in 2022. We’ve never seen the virus spread in all birds for three years, as we’ve seen over these last three years and the impacts on producers has been tremendous.
So we’ve learned a few things over these last couple of years. We know that biosecurity has been a really critical tool here to prevent infection of poultry facilities.
But we also know that the virus has been doing something a little bit different than we’ve seen in the past. And so we need to augment our tools so that we can ensure that we have the best tools available to reduce the impact of the virus moving forward.
So what we’re rolling out this morning includes some short-term activity, some sort of actions that are going to help reduce the incidence of the virus, and that includes the biosecurity, as Kailee mentioned.
But also looking at the longer term around developing that vaccine that provides sterilizing immunity, but also has different means of providing the vaccine to poultry, beyond the inoculation that’s currently available for the currently available vaccines.
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00:14:14.000 ROSEMARY SIFFORD, USDA
First around the biosecurity measures, as Kailee mentioned, we will be expanding the wildlife services biosecurity assessments. Those have been conducted in four pilot states and we’ll be expanding that to allow other producers to request those and receive that support.
We’ll also be expanding the biosecurity audits that veterinary services has recently implemented for affected flocks to allow producers who’ve not been affected to also request those audits.
And then for all of those audits, if a producer, if we identify biosecurity updates or changes that need to be made, we’ll be willing to partner with that producer to cost share up to 75% of the cost of addressing some of the highest risk biosecurity challenges that the producer faces.
So that will give the producer the opportunity to get direct feedback for their facility as well as the cost share to help address some of the major challenges that they face.
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00:16:01.000 ROSEMARY SIFFORD, APHIS
We are very interested in trying to develop a more robust vaccine that’s well matched to the current circulating strain and helps address some of our logistical challenges in terms of administration.
And so we are planning to put out a request for proposals for manufacturers to support them in making some of those changes. But we are also going to be standing up a working group, which will include states, industry, and our public health partners to look and develop very specific protocols and plans for vaccination.
That will help us to really get into the details of who’s responsible for what and how we’re going to meet our trading partner expectations with regard to the control of vaccine, the vaccinated animals, and then the surveillance to ensure we don’t have any underlying circulating virus.
So our expectation is that that working group will be able to work quickly to develop that really robust plan and then we’ll be able to share some of the details from that plan with trading partners to help answer any questions they might have and set us up to be able to mitigate any potential trade impacts as we continue to plan for the specific vaccine strategy that we might pursue.
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00:20:11.000 QUESTION
There’s been some miscommunication, I believe, in the last week or two about euthanasia and depopulation of farms that are positive.
I’m hoping that USDA is going to continue to follow the WOAH standards in regards to depopulation of positive farms.
Can you confirm that that is not going to change, policy?
00:20:39.000 ROSMARY SIFFORD, APHIS
Yes, sir.
At this time, no anticipated changes to our current stamping out policy at this time.
And we will continue to follow WOAH guidelines.
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00:23:04.000 QUESTION
Regarding vaccine working group, do you have a timeline set on when you would like to try to get in front of trade partners to have conversations around that?
And also, do you have a timeline on when you’d like to see a resolution regarding vaccine development itself?
00:23:29.000 ROSEMARY SIFFORD, APHIS
So we expect to start the working group within the next two weeks and we will move very swiftly to put together a full plan, so that we can put that in front of trading partners as quickly as possible.
And our commitment to you all is that we will continue to work very closely with you and keep you apprised every step of the way.
So we will have that biweekly update open to the public and then we will be having a couple different work streams with our trading partners, industry friends, friends in government such as FDA, CDC, NIH.
So we anticipate, if you want updates to come to those biweekly calls, but also to reach out to us for involvement in those other separate working groups.
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00:25:35.000 QUESTION
I’m asking specifically about human resources. I know that there’s been a push to cut back on resources in many parts of the government and I wanted to know if part of this plan has anything in it with regards to making sure that you all have adequate resources to carry out these efforts?
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00:26:09.000 MIKE WATSON, USDA
And what we’re doing right now is looking across the department for folks who have the skill set that we need to help with this work.
So we’ve identified a number of staff across USDA have the skills and the ability to come and work immediately, which is going to help us to get this ramped up really quickly.
So in terms of the resources, we have the immediate resources available to us across USDA.
If we need additional staff, we will bring on term employees in the future as well. But right now we feel like we have enough resources available to us start this off pretty quickly here.
00:26:41.000 KAILEE BULLER, USDA
And I think to be clear from my end as well, I mean, this is a number one priority for the secretary specifically, and so there’s no greater need across the department to reallocate resources to than this issue and containing this issue.
And so, you know, the secretary herself and myself have had these discussions with APHIS and across the department so people understand that this is a key priority for us at the OSEC level.
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00:29:20.000 QUESTION
And then the second question is on the NVSL staff There’s been some disruption there to Dr. Clifford’s question on APS staff is there sufficient stab at the lab for the lab Long-term analysis and and turn around on those samples.
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00:30:04.000 ROSEMARY SIFFORD, APHIS
In terms of the other staffing question, as I mentioned, we get a lot of support from across the department, but as Kaylee mentioned this is obviously a priority for Secretary Rollins. And so we find that there’s gaps.
We will certainly look to find resources available outside the department if necessary to fill those gaps.
I think right now we’re okay. Those naming will be okay moving forward, but we’ll address those as we move forward.
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00:32:37.000 QUESTION
I just need to reiterate, we cannot do this without future assistance from especially wildlife services, as it comes to that surveillance around these dairies and then that abatement when it’s needed.
What is the plan for that to make sure that we can keep our folks on the ground here that are working with us from USDA wildlife services?
00:33:10.000 MIKE WATSON, USDA
And again, I think the commitment here is to make sure we have enough resources available to combat the challenges we’re having with HPAI.
And so we did have a few hiccups here in the last few weeks, but we feel like we’re going to get those addressed. If they not have been addressed already.
And we will have resources available to support the states as we move forward.
So I think as we spoke a couple weeks ago, I think we address an immediate concern, but we want to make sure we have long-term issues addressed as well moving forward here.
9;24;51 AM Q: Do you think it might it might be time to revisit what Kevin Hassett was just talking about? Which is, the policy for a long time and kind of understandably, in terms of good intentions, but doesn’t allow immunity for those survive to pass on.
Is it time to stop the policy or change it, where you just kill all the chickens?
09;25;36 AM ROLLINS: That’s part of the fifth prong. That’s part of the research piece. And we are going to have hopefully some pilot programs around the country that work to prove that out.
The avian flu is an extremely fast spreading virus. And within a couple of days, it spreads so quickly that most of the chickens have died anyway.
But there are some farmers that are out there that are willing to really try this on a pilot as we build the safe perimeter around them to see if there is a way forward with immunity and the genetics and the DNA become part of this. And I think that’ll be a big change too in terms of policy.
Brooke Rollins, USDA [00:00:02]
The president has made it one of his priorities from minute one that we bring those prices down for consumers while protecting America’s farmers. And very quickly you can see here this chart, the prices of eggs under Biden have just skyrocketed. Under Trump, went down a little bit. Obama went up a little bit, so it’s more than just the avian flu, but certainly that has been the driver.
So just this morning, we announced the plan to first of all, attack the avian flu and how we pull it back out of our poultry producers. But secondly, how we bring the cost of eggs down. So that plan has five parts.
The first part is a biosecurity part. And what that means is that how do we lock our poultry barns down? How do we ensure that our egg laying chickens aren’t getting this disease? Mostly it comes from wild fowl that fly over or get into the barns. So USDA will be producing at no charge an audit to every single egg farmer in this country. And, then we will help them secure their barns.
Of 150 pilot projects on this exact project, only one has gotten the avian flu since the USDA came in and helped lock those barn down. So that’s first.
Secondly, we’re going to work to move much more quickly on repopulating the 160 million birds that have been culled in just the last few months. So what do we need to do to get regulations out of the way to help indemnify these poultry producers to start repopulating much more quickly than we’ve been doing?
Third is a deregulation effort that is ensuring that the rules that have been layered on our producers are egg producers over the last really four years, that we begin to peel those back that will allow costs to come down. That’s a little bit more long term, but really important, there are some rules in play that are costing the eggs to go up without the avian flu as part of it.
The fourth is we’re looking to import eggs in the short term. This is just on the cost piece. We’re already in discussions, there’s been, you know, if you dig around, you’ll kind of figure out which countries, but we’re talking to three or four countries right now about getting between 70 and a hundred million eggs into the country, in the next month or two, which of course will help with supply and demand.
And then the final more long term is putting significant funds into vaccine and therapeutic research. Our egg layers and our broilers, our poultry industry does not use vaccinations right now. A lot of the industry believes on the egg-laying side that we should, but it isn’t a proven vaccine yet. And so I was hesitant in rolling anything out that would require more vaccinations without understanding first exactly what it solved.
The problem? Mexico vaccinates their egg layers, and they still are hit with about 80% even vaccinated with this avian flu. So instead we’re going to put some significant funding into researching how we get to that point. And the way I would think about it is it’s almost like the flu vaccine, right? Most people get it, but it only works one out of every two or three times.
Before we start sticking our chickens, we need to ensure in putting that into the food supply that we know exactly what we’re doing.
…
Brooke Rollins, USDA [00:03:11]
We are seeing probably even a little bit more increase up until Easter, which is actually normal because so many eggs are used around Easter. We also have only been in 30 days. I’ve been in 13 days.
We are going– it’s going to take a little while to get through, I think the next month or two, but hopefully by summer.
…
Brooke Rollins, USDA [00:05:20]
So there’s a lot of work that has already been done.
Clearly, I don’t know the exact number, I have it in my head, but I don’t want to say it in case it’s wrong, but it’s right around a dozen or more countries that currently use a vaccine. So it’s not that it’s a brand new idea, and there are a lot of people in the country, we got a lot of feedback from those who think that’s the immediate solution and that we should be doing it.
It has been tested around the world. When we really dug in, in talking to our CDC, our Centers for Disease Control, our NIH, some of the key veterinarians around the country next week, I’m going to a facility in Athens, Georgia with University of Georgia that goes into this specifically within livestock, as I do that, a lot of the feedback I got was, as I mentioned, that it could be a solution, but to push that out now and require it, we’re just not ready.
We don’t have enough information and we need to fully understand how it will affect the food supply. So those are all really, really important questions that I think have to be answered.
So we’ve got a hundred million of that billion dollar plan that will be focused specifically on vaccines, but not just on vaccines on therapeutics. Is there a way to address the avian flu with therapeutics, not just vaccines?
Just wanted to check in again to see if the H5 case was still hospitalized in Colorado? Also, has the strain been identified yet?
She has been discharged from the hospital. The genotype was D1.1, which was the same as the poultry at her home.
Just wanted to follow up to see if Platte County’s genotype has been identified yet?
Yes, the flock was confirmed as D1.1
CDC will be actively participating virtually at the WHO vaccine consultation meeting for the recommendation of viruses for 2025-26 Northern Hemisphere Vaccine this week.
HHS Employees -
On Saturday, you received an email from OPM entitled “What did you do last week.” The directive stated employees were to submit five bullets detailing their accomplishments in the past week.
In discussions with OPM Officials yesterday and today OPM has now rescinded that mandatory requirement.
There is no HHS expectation that HHS employees respond to OPM and there is no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond.
That said, if you choose to respond, here are the guidelines you should follow:
Respond to the email by the deadline established (today @ 11:59 P.M.).
Keep your response at a high level of generality and describe your work in a manner to protect sensitive data, personally identifiable information, and applicable privileges to the extent possible. Do not (1) identify, by name or title, any other HHS employees with whom you have been working; (2) identify, by case name or otherwise, matters you are working on, or (3) identify any specific grants or contracts, or any specific grantees or contractors.
If you are engaged in scientific research or reviews, do not identify by name any drugs, devices, biologics, therapeutics, or similar items in your response. If you are engaged in any scientific experiments, research, or reviews, do not provide information that could allow anyone to identify the precise nature of your work.
Respond by replying to the OPM HR email as instructed, with a cc: to your supervisor.
Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly.
Dear Colleagues, I am pleased to share the news that Kyle Diamantas, J.D. is our new Acting Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods.
Most recently Kyle worked at Jones Day, serving as Partner, Chair of its Food Supplier practice, and Co-Chair of its Food and Drug Subgroup. He is well versed in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the FDA’s operational framework. He has extensive experience working with various federal and state agencies, scientific organizations, consumer advocacy groups, and industry stakeholders, and has wide-ranging experience on mat- ter spanning regulatory, compliance, investigation, enforcement, rulemaking and legislation, and transactions involving products regulated by the FDA, FTC, CPSC, USDA and EPA.
Kyle holds a juris doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and a bachelor’s in pre-law political science from the University of Central Florida.
Please join me welcoming Kyle to our agency. I know he is looking forward to working with all of us in the pursuit to Make America Healthy Again!
Dear Colleagues: I want to acknowledge the challenges we are facing at NIH during this period of significant change. I joined NIH more than 20 years ago as a clinical fellow and continued as an intramural researcher, driven by a deep belief in public service and the transformative power of biomedical research to advance public health. I know this commitment is something we all share. The last few weeks have been difficult for many of us, but we must prepare for further changes ahead. When this transition is behind us, NIH may look different, but our mission - to improve the health of all people through groundbreaking biomedical research - will remain unchanged. We will continue to pursue that mission diligently and efficiently. This week, HHS welcomed a new Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. If you missed the event, I encourage you to watch the livestream. Secretary Kennedy spoke warmly about NIH, recalling how, as a young boy and aspiring scientist, he visited NIH and admired NIH researchers. He described them as the smartest people in the world- driven not by financial gain, but by a higher calling, a deep-seated idealism. That belief in NIH scientists remains with him today. We will have many opportunities to demonstrate our value to Secretary Kennedy in the coming weeks and months. NIH stands at the forefront of providing the critical data needed to combat chronic diseases and address the many interconnected factors that influence health, from obesity to nutrition to environmental exposures. As we have for more than 138 years, NIH will rise to the occasion, advancing scientific discoveries that improve lives and reaffirming our essential role in the nation’s health landscape. Sincerely, Matthew J. Memoli, M.D. Acting Director, NIH
On Saturday, February 22, 2025, OPM sent an email to all federal employees titled “What did you do last week?”. This is a legitimate email. Please read and respond per the instructions by Monday, February 24 11:59pm EST.
Dear colleagues,
HHS leadership continues to work with OPM officials on how best to meet the intent of yesterday’s notice to employees while being mindful of the sensitivity of the information and initiatives ongoing within the HHS Operational and Staff Divisions.
Employees are therefore directed to “pause” activities in answering the OPM email.
Additional guidance will be provided on or around noon tomorrow, ensuring HHS employees and leaders have sufficient time to assess OPM’s guidance and still meet the Monday 11:59 PM deadline.
CDC antigenically characterizes about 2,000 flu viruses during a typical flu season to monitor for changes in circulating viruses and to compare how similar these viruses are to those included in flu vaccines. Antigenic characterization can give an indication of the flu vaccine’s ability to produce an immune response against the flu viruses circulating in people. However, this is only one of several indicators used to determine vaccine effectiveness, and VE cannot be calculated based on characterization data alone.
“The Indian Health Service has always been treated as the redheaded stepchild at HHS,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “My father often complained that IHS was chronically understaffed and underfunded. President Trump wants me to rectify this sad history. Indians suffer the highest level of chronic disease of any demographic. IHS will be a priority over the next four years. President Trump wants me to end the chronic disease epidemic beginning in Indian country.”
Attributable to a CDC spokesperson:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed a human infection with avian influenza A(H5) virus in Wyoming. As reported by the Wyoming Department of Health, the individual owned a backyard poultry flock and was likely exposed to the virus through unprotected, direct contact with infected poultry before becoming ill. The individual is currently hospitalized and receiving treatment, making this the second confirmed case of severe illness in the United States associated with backyard poultry flocks. Owners of backyard flocks should be aware of the risk of H5 bird flu to their flock and their own health.
CDC’s risk assessment remains low for the public but is higher for people with occupational or recreational exposures to infected animals. Recently, detections have increased among wild birds and poultry, while detections have declined in dairy cows and bulk milk testing. For more information about the current U.S. situation, visit www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/.
Background
Serious illness from H5 bird flu is not unexpected. Most human infections with H5 bird flu in the United States since 2024 have been mild. Historically, these viruses have caused illnesses ranging from mild to deadly. One other severe case of H5 bird flu associated with exposure to an infected backyard poultry flock occurred in Louisiana; unfortunately, that individual died from illness caused by H5 bird flu.
Because these viruses can cause serious illness and death, it is important that people with exposure to infected or potentially infected animals take recommended precautions, including use of appropriate personal protective equipment. Keeping backyard poultry is becoming more popular, but it may put owners at higher risk of H5 bird flu. There are steps people can take to protect their flocks and protect their own health in the event their flock becomes infected.
Ohio:
Attributable to CDC Spokesperson:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted laboratory testing on a specimen from the presumptive positive human case of avian influenza A(H5) (H5 bird flu) received from the Ohio Department of Health. Testing at CDC was not able to confirm avian influenza A(H5) virus infection. Therefore, this case is being reported as a “probable case” in accordance with guidance from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. For more information about the current U.S. situation, visit www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/.
Background:
CDC is conducting genetic sequencing on a specimen from the Wyoming case, and results are not yet available.
I submit my resignation as Deputy Commissioner of Human Foods at FDA. It has been an honor for me to serve in this position working to protect the health and welfare of Americans. I was looking forward to working to pursue the Department’s agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food. It has been increasingly clear that withthe Trump Administration’s disdain for the very people necessary to implement your agenda, however, it would have been fruitless for me to continue in this role. The indiscriminate firing of 89 staff in the Human Foods Program is beyond short sighted. The foods program staff at FDA is the envy of the world in its technical, professional and ethical standards. The Secretary’s comments impugning the integrity of the food staff, asserting they are corrupt based on falsities is a disservice to everyone. The foods program is over 99% funded by Congressional appropriations and less than 1% by fees paid by industry despite the Secretary’s continued public assertions that industry funds 75% of FDA including the foods program. The employees fired this past weekend are the most recent hires and generally come to federal service with the most recent education and represent the future of the Agency. They included staff with highly technical expertise in nutrition, infant formula, food safety response and even 10 chemical safety staff hired to review potentially unsafe ingredients in our food supply. Their termination will be one more roadblock to achieving the Secretary’s stated objectives of making America healthy again. I hope the Administration comes to the realization that the highly skilled professionals that work in FDA and across HHS are the only way to succeed.
The individual had respiratory symptoms. He was previously hospitalized and has since been released.
1) What is the condition (e.g. recovering, good, critical, etc.) of the patient?
2) Around how long has she been hospitalized?
3) Around how long has it been since she was initially exposed to sick birds?
…
We don’t typically provide information on patient condition due to privacy concerns and decline to do so.
The patient was hospitalized within the last two weeks. Exposure to the sick poultry preceded her hospitalization by just a couple of days.
CDC confirmed a Wyoming resident, currently hospitalized in Colorado, is positive for avian influenza A(H5). Wyoming is leading the investigation. For additional information, please reach out to Kim Deti, kim.deti@wyo.gov, at the Wyoming Department of Health.
No matter how many staff members are ultimately let go due to this reckless order, each loss will directly impact how IHS—the 18th largest health care system in the U.S.—carries out its mission to millions of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Beyond providing direct health care services, IHS supports critical public health infrastructure, veterinary services, and essential utilities like clean drinking water and wastewater management in tribal communities nationwide. For years, the agency’s unacceptably high vacancy rate has been a bipartisan concern across multiple administrations. To see the hard-won progress of recruitment and retention efforts so casually disregarded is the very definition of government inefficiency and shows a disregard for Native American lives.
The patient is hospitalized in Colorado. We do not yet know the strain. She had flu-like symptoms.
Is it known what genotype (e.g. D1.1 or B3.13) caused these backyard poultry flock infections?
Yes, thanks for asking. It is B3.13.
HHS is following the Administration’s guidance and taking action to support the President’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government. This is to ensure that HHS better serves the American people at the highest and most efficient standard.
Question [00:51:55]
…talk about state advocacy. There’s been a lot of bills coming up in the states yes, focused on school meals and other things. Can you talk about the relationship between like how much focus you’ll have federally versus the states?
Del Bigtree [00:52:06]
Yeah, so we have, as– if you watching, we have a C4, which is MAHA Action. We just hired professional investigators and scientists to go through every single bill across America. And we will be listing on our website at MAHA Action every single bill we think should be either a pro MAHA bill or an anti MAHA bill.
You’re going to be able to track your representatives on how well they’re voting on MAHA issues. All of that will be in a very easy to use dashboard of the United States. And you can click on where you live and we’re going to show you who you can call. And we are going to get this movement to be directly involved with issues of food safety, drug safety, water safety, air safety, and that will all be done by our legislative outfit at MAHA Action.
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Del Bigtree [01:04:30]
I saw him speak with Rand Paul who keeps asking for information on gain of function and exactly when and where, and very specific FOIA requests. And I saw him say today at the Oval Office, they’re still gaslighting me. I can’t get it.
And Bobby said, I’m going to walk down there this afternoon and make sure you get it. Those are the types of things he can do right away.
And I think you’re going to see this, this hold up of transparency and information being held from our political representatives, being held from us.
As far as my role, Bobby Kennedy and I are very good friends. I have always appreciated our relationship and I am there for him in any capacity that he needs me whenever, wherever, however.
I will wait for him to decide what he needs from me.
Right now, what he has said is Dell, I need you to go out and actually Make America Healthy Again. Everything in here will be about regulations and trying to get the truth out. But if we don’t get people eating better, if we don’t get them to stop taking way too many drugs, if we don’t get them to start exercising, if we don’t get them to start sleeping right, then I am not going to prove this point.
Donald Trump has given Robert Kennedy Jr. two years to reverse the chronic disease epidemic. That seems like it would be almost impossible. I am going to attempt to work with all of the grassroots people that are out there. All of the different groups that have already done work.
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Del Bigtree [01:07:36]
There’s a reason why you bring in a head of the FDA, we still need Marty Makary to take over that position. We still need Dr. Mehmet Oz to be confirmed for CMS. We still need– I’m forgetting CDC’s– Dr. Dave Weldon, sorry, Dave Weldon, who is also a good friend of mine. I’ve known for years.
We need them to take on those roles. What Robert Kennedy Jr. is he’s great at leading teams of people. I was one of those people. He relies on their talent to do the job, and they’ll be having discussions on how to best move forward.
That’s all I can say about that. It won’t be him by himself.
Question [01:08:21]
Well, maybe picking up on that. I mean, talk to us about what you’ve told Mr. Kennedy about what should happen to the scientists and the health officials that have been overseeing the system. I mean, is it possible for him to get his agenda done if those people are still in their positions?
Del Bigtree [01:08:37]
Look, I did some interviewing of candidates and just trying to help out and push people his way.
And a few whistle blowers from inside of our regulatory agencies came to me and they all said the same thing they said, is it true that there is some revolving door where some of these scientists do things to maybe get a big job in pharma? Yes. But that’s probably only 10% of your problem.
Is it true that there’s corruption in funding that they’re getting and they’re getting kick backs from some of the products that they make? Yeah, sure, that’s happening, but that’s probably 10% of your problem.
And I heard this several times, they said 80% of your problem is this massive bureaucracy that is essentially like watching a substitute teacher come into the room in the classroom. And they think, well, you’ll be gone in four years. We’ll just sort of stone wall and not move things, and nothing gets done. And that was said by people that have had the highest positions that are in there.
I will also say though that when they spoke of Robert Kennedy Jr. and sometimes speaking to him, there was a light in their eyes. And they looked at him almost like a superhero and said, you know, you are different. You might be able to do what I couldn’t do because I still have to leave and run my legal practice that has pharmaceutical clients. And I still have to make sure I don’t make anyone upset.
But you, Robert Kennedy Jr. are not owned by any of the people that are trying to control these regulatory agencies. You might be able to just do what we all have dreamed about.
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Del Bigtree [01:20:22]
We cannot avoid looking the truth in the eyes and saying, you know what? I have to reconsider that.
The moment we stop looking at science, we are now involved in a religion. And for anyone to believe that asking questions right now of a program where there’s this many side effects and no placebo trials and small studies being done, that show an increase in autism with vaccinations, then we need to reopen this investigation and we need to reopen the investigation in the chemicals in our food.
And we’ve got to analyze those regulatory agents and doctors and scientists that put the stuff into our environment, allowed the stuff on our grocery shelves allowed these things to be injected into our kids without a proper study.
Those people should never work for the United States government again.
And only people that remember why they’re here, that believe in the Hippocratic oath to do no harm, not harm to just a small group of people, while we work towards the greater good. That is what do no harm means?
You’re not allowed to think of any other patient except the one sitting right in front of you. This one right in front of you might be injured today. It’s a possibility.
We all need to do everything we can to make sure that that child or that person is perfectly safe and never has to worry about being hurt.
19;12;49;19 KENNEDY: Congress has repeatedly, and the National Academies of Sciences, have repeatedly ordered CDC to put together a better vaccine adverse events reporting system.
Q: Will you require it?
KENNEDY: And we will do that right away.
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19;13;01;06 Q: There’s rumors out there that as many as 50% of the employees of HHS will be cut in the restructuring of government that DOGE is helping President Trump carry out. And people are wringing their hands. Your response to that?
KENNEDY: I don’t know anything about 50% of people being cut. There’s 90,000 employees. I would be surprised if there were 50% cuts.
Q: How much do you think you might cut?
KENNEDY: Well, I mean, I think the lower level employees at HHS, most of them are public-spirited, good public servants, good American patriots, and hardworking people.
What I’m interested in are moving around, moving away the people who have made really bad decisions, for example, on the nutrition guidelines.
People who have– you know, there’s people at NIH that were involved in the amyloid plaque scandals that derailed Alzheimer’s treatment for 20 years.
It’s all corruption. Those kind of people need to be moved.
Q: Do you have a list of people that you already know need to be removed in quickly?
KENNEDY: I have a list in my head. And, you know, we have a generic list of the kind of people that, if you’ve been involved in good science, you’ve got nothing to worry about. If you care about public health, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
If you’re in there working for the pharmaceutical industry, then I’d say you should move out and work for the pharmaceutical industry.
Dear Colleagues,
With gratitude for his strong leadership and commitment, I announce National Institutes of Health (NIH) Principal Deputy Director Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., retired from federal service effective Feb. 11, 2025, after 25 years of service. Dr. Tabak has held critical NIH leadership roles since 2000, most notably in his current role as the second in command since August 2010, and two years as the Acting NIH Director from December 2021-November 2023. He has helped shape important policy decisions at NIH over four administrations. He has guided NIH through complex issues and will be sorely missed.
Dr. Tabak also served as the Deputy Ethics Counselor since August 2010 and as Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research from 2000-2010. In addition to his administrative duties, he maintained a research laboratory within the NIH intramural program studying glycoprotein biosynthesis and function.
Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Tabak was the Senior Associate Dean for Research and professor of dentistry and biochemistry & biophysics in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester, New York.
Dr. Tabak is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies. He received his undergraduate degree from City College of New York, his D.D.S. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Buffalo.
I thank Dr. Tabak for his 25 years of leadership in biomedical research and public health in service of the American people.
Sincerely,
Matthew J. Memoli, M.D., M.S. Acting Director, NIH
I really want the general public to know how good of a person and scientist he is. Despite all of his duties for the institution, he always made time for mentorship and ensuring sound science was conducted. His benefit to me and the NIH cannot be overstated. He would work 80 hours a weekly regularly with no days off. He truly gave himself up for the American public. it’s absolutely insane to have him cast out like this and to paint him as anything other than a dedicated public servant.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO [00:10:20]
A significant part of WHO’s response to health emergencies in Uganda, DRC, Gaza, Sudan, and elsewhere is supported by funding from the United States.
As we have said, we regret the announcement that the United States intends to withdraw from WHO and we would welcome the opportunity to engage in constructive dialog.
There are also actions that the U.S. government is taking that are unrelated to its intended withdrawal from WHO but which we are concerned are having a serious impact on global health.
For example, the suspension of funding to PEPFAR, the president’s emergency plan for aids relief, caused an immediate stop to HIV treatment testing and prevention services in the 50 countries that PEPFAR supports based on bilateral agreements.
Although a waiver has been granted for life saving services, it does not include prevention services for some of the most at risk groups.
Despite the waiver, clinics are shuttered and health workers have been put on leave.
WHO is gathering data on service disruptions and supporting countries with mitigation measures, including by filling gaps in supplies of antivirals.
The sudden suspension of U.S. funding and the sudden disengagement of U.S. institutions is also affecting the response to global efforts to eradicate polio and the response to mpox epidemics in Africa.
In Myanmar, almost 60,000 people, most of them women and children have been left with no access to life saving services. And we have limited information about the spread of avian influenza among dairy cattle, in the U.S., or human cases.
We ask the U.S. to consider continuing its funding, at least until solutions can be found.
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Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO [00:16:46]
U.S. is reporting cases of avian influenza through IHR channels.
So we have had reports of a H1N2v of swine virus through IHR, a human detection.
We’ve also had a human case of H5 that has been reported through IHR channels.
CDC right now is not reporting influenza data through the WHO global platforms, FluNet, FluID, that they’ve been providing information for many, many years.
And we have not had direct communication, with CDC related to influenza, we are communicating with them, but we haven’t heard anything back.
We are receiving information on avian influenza, through animal infections, USDA has published some information online.
So we do know about some circulation that’s happening in dairy cattle, but as DG has said, we welcome active technical exchange with our colleagues in the U.S.
And there are very important meetings that are taking place, and we welcome, as always, the engagement of our technical partners in the U.S., as well as through all of our member states and in fact, a technical exchange with anyone, anywhere.
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Abdi Rahman Mahamud, WHO [00:24:47]
Close collaborations coming from U.S., both U.S. CDC at the field level, both in Uganda and Tanzania have been given permission to work very closely with WHO, and we have seen the initial announcement from the U.S. to support the response.
So we would like to see more because the demand is huge.
Uganda has a very strong capability, have responded to this, their eighth Ebola disease outbreak they’re dealing, but it started in the capital. And, I think would be very important for all countries to show that solidarity not only for Uganda, but all other countries dealing with this response.
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Abdi Rahman Mahamud, WHO [00:26:03]
All the confirmed cases, the nine, are all epidemiologically linked to the index cases.
Part of the ongoing investigation is to understand better how did this healthcare worker got infected? A lot of investigation are going on, and then the country is improving.
So people get confused between cases, suspect cases, alerts.
As the government improved the surveillance system, we expect to see more suspected cases, more alert coming from the community.
All those cases have been investigated and confirmed.
The government also introduced additional layers of surveillance called mortality surveillance, where they go swab samples from people who died for a non-Ebola disease.
And so out of the 200 deaths, they tested all were negative. So while there’s a lot of room for improvement, we are confident Uganda has the core capability and it requires support.
So just to reiterate again, all the confirmed cases, epidemiologically link to the presumed index case.
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Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO [00:27:15]
So there’s a vaccine composition meeting that’s taking place in a couple of weeks, every six months or so, the world comes together, the HWO collaborating centers for influenza technical partners to make recommendations on seasonal influenza vaccine composition.
They also make recommendations in looking at the circulating zoonotic influenza viruses to identify candidate vaccine viruses that can be used by manufacturers, should there need to be these types of vaccines developed for a pandemic related to a zoonotic influenza.
That meeting will take place. There are many meetings that actually lead up to the face to face meeting that happens every six months or so.
U.S. CDC and many partners, we actually have national influenza centers in 130 member states that contribute data to this assessment that happens every six months to make the recommendation for the seasonal vaccine composition.
So those meetings have been taking place. Data has been exchanged.
The face to face meeting will take place in a couple weeks and the recommendation will come.
So I think it’s really important that all of that you know there are several WHO collaborating centers, including some in the United States, they play a major role in the global influenza surveillance and response system.
This system that has been in operation for 73 years, they are characterizing viruses, influenza viruses that are circulating. They share samples, they share genetic sequencing, they do risk assessments, and they make these recommendations to make sure that the vaccines that are produced by manufacturers provide as much protection as they can against severe disease and death, for seasonal flu, but they also make recommendations for viruses that could become a pandemic strain.
So we are not in a situation where in a pre-pandemic for avian influenza, we’re in an inter-pandemic period.
So these meetings are really, really critical. That meeting will take place. There will be a recommendation that will be made, and we will make that announcement as soon as that meeting is finished.
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Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO [00:31:00]
The communication from CDC stopped around the 24th of January.
But up until that, I want to be really clear, there are incredible scientists at U.S. CDC and across U.S. institutions, as well as the institutions in all of the member states that we work with.
We hope that this exchange resumes soon.
We are continuing to reach out to our colleagues in the U.S. government agencies. We haven’t heard back from them, but we will continue to reach out. And we hope again that exchange resumes.
We have, I want to reiterate, that the U.S. has reported human cases of avian influenza through IHR, that has continued. And we do hope that there will be more uploads to the different websites and through the different portals related to influenza as well as other diseases.
So it’s not just influenza, obviously that we’re concerned about, but all of them, and this ask is for all of our member states, to continue to do good detection work, to utilize their surveillance systems, multiple components of surveillance systems, because everything that we do in support of our member states and pandemic prevention, preparedness readiness response is around surveillance, detection, collaboration, and supporting those capacities that exist in all countries, so that we could prevent that next big event from happening.
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Teresa Zakaria, WHO [00:32:51]
Very important to highlight in Myanmar is the very large portion of the population that has no access to health services.
In 2025, close to 20 million people are expected to be in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance. And that include health services.
The focus of WHO’s work has really been to increase access to health services in those areas that have been hardest to reach. We still have a long way to go to, to properly increase coverage to health services, for which donations, funding, that is provided by the United States is significant.
So the number, that is a reflection basically of the number of people that we are trying to improve their access to health services.
But it’s really just a small portion of the entire number of people actually in need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar.
And, we do very frequently forget just the scale of suffering in needs in this country as well.
Just to very quickly to touch on the United States of America’s contribution to WHO’s emergency operations, we’re looking at 39 percent of the total funding received, and available for WHO’s emergency operations for the grade three emergencies.
So that’s quite a significant amount. And what it means is that everywhere in, in any graded emergencies, in any settings, territories, and countries where WHO is trying to respond to these emergencies, it’s about increasing access to health services. It’s making sure that people have access, they do not face barriers in accessing the services that they need, and that the public health functions are operational.
So quantifying those who are directly impacted is a way of showing it.
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Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO [00:35:49]
So, the vaccine composition meeting will take place in a couple of weeks.
U.S. CDC, our WHO collaborating centers and partners, have been invited. Don’t know if they will come.
But as I said, in my previous answer, there are many meetings that actually lead up to the face to face vaccine composition meeting all year long
The WHO collaborating centers, the national influenza centers, there are national influenza centers in 133 member states. They’re sharing information about circulating viruses and all of that information over the course of the six months, a year is actually utilized in making that decision about the vaccine composition for either the Northern hemisphere or the Southern hemisphere.
So, yes, there is a pause in the reporting of information from the U.S., as we’ve said, we hope that that resumes, we hope that that technical exchange resumes, but there is data that has been provided from the U.S. as well as from many countries around the world.
So it’s not just that one meeting, where data is exchanged. Data is exchanged over the course of the whole year and for many, many years.
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Abdi Rahman Mahamud, WHO [00:37:02]
The DG has already alluded the things in vaccination, but there is also the financial, around 7.5 million that was allocated for key critical interventions has been impacted and more importantly, the humanitarian crisis where a lot of the NGO partners we have in government that depend heavily on the USAID and U.S. partners funding.
But I want to reiterate, again, it’s more than even the funding.
As we speak today in Uganda, global outbreak alert response network started by U.S. CDC and WHO coming together.
And through that mechanism, U.S. CDC has deployed almost 842 deployment of U.S. experts to countries that would never have been accessed.
So it continuous exchange between WHO, its two sister organization, has been very critical.
So while we’re very happy to see U.S. CDC experts coming to the field, joining us in Tanzania, in Uganda, I think this is a very critical, important collaboration that needs to be further strength, and it’s beyond even the financial, which has direct impact on our partners and WHO, but there’s technical collaboration that will be lost for both.
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Meg Doherty, WHO [00:39:26]
Currently right now, there are limited waivers that have come forward to be able to allow access to life saving treatment, including antiretroviral therapies, mother to child transmission.
But, we have noted that there has been confusion in countries and certainly with the furloughed healthcare workers, some of the services have not been able to get started again.
So what we’ve been doing at our coordination is having contact with countries ministries, and when there are requests for other antiretrovirals to go to one country or another, we seek support, from country to country for sharing.
This is a very short term limited approach that we did during COVID to ensure life saving medicines were available.
But over the long term, there’s going to need to be greater coordination, especially with other resources and some of the domestic resources that are now going into antiretroviral programs.
So this will be an evolving story. And, I think each day we learn something new and currently right now countries and ministries are working very hard to see how they can mitigate the effects and we are there with them as they do that transition.
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Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO [00:53:17]
U.S. colleagues contribute to many different types of information exchange with us.
So what I was referring to with influenza, there’s data that can go on on databases, online, in reporting systems that exist globally.
I mentioned Flu ID, I mentioned Flu Net, but the data that is published on the CDC website across a number of different diseases is information that is still needed for a number of different programs.
But CDC and other U.S. experts also participate in advisory groups. They participate in expert network discussions where we are developing evidence based guidance.
There are meetings that have been taking place, looking at different types of research for Marburg, for Ebola, for mpox, for many different types of really critical technical outbreaks that are happening right now.
And that’s the exchange that we are asking to continue.
So while all of these other things are being worked out, the technical exchange between scientists, between collaborators, whether this is happening at a global level, at a regional level, or in country as part of a response, or as part of preparedness efforts, that’s the exchange that we want to resume.
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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO [00:55:35]
The three strategic goals are mobilize resources, tighten the belt, and also engage.
So it’s within our own goals and that’s what we are trying to do.
Of course, without formal engagement or without engagement, you wouldn’t know what would really help in terms of continuing the cooperation and for the U.S. to reconsider its decision.
On the issues you raised in the executive order, I can give you some examples.
For instance, one is, it asks about WHO’s reform.
Of course we believe in reform. We believe that change is a constant. We believe in continuous improvement.
And since I started, we have initiated the biggest transformation initiative in the history of the organization and the seven pillars I said earlier.
And many of those initiatives are happening, changing the organization, preparing it for the future.
For instance, our investment in science, in data and in technology is forward looking and that will be game changers, and that will really shape up the organization and prepare it for the future.
So we have been doing that, but still if reform, if there is more reform idea from the U.S., they’re welcome, we are actually asking for it. We have been asking for it.
So if there are good ideas, there are ideas, we would be happy to take those. So I don’t think this should be a reason. It should be actually a reason to cooperate.
And then the other issue is payments, of course, in the executive order says U.S. pays disproportionately.
Of course we thank the U.S. for its generosity. I know the U.S. generosity and leadership, not just as DG of WHO but when I was working in Ethiopia as head of department, as minister of health and so on, that actually helped me when I was minister to transform the health sector of Ethiopia.
So I’m really grateful for that. And that’s why I feel sad when U.S. has decided to withdraw, because I know its leadership and impact at country level and the same at global level.
But when it does this, of course, this is wants to help the rest of the world. But at the same time, the U.S. also benefits from it.
But, if the U.S. wants to pay less, it’s actually in line with what we are doing as part of our reform, because we have started in 2017, the sustainable financing reform that is helping us to broaden donor base.
And when this succeeds, the contribution of traditional donors, including the U.S. could decline.
Of course it will take some years, but it will decline because the burden will be shared.
So if this is what the U.S. wants, then again, cooperation and being with WHO will be the answer, meaning we are asking exactly the same thing we are asking, share burden, the burden and the U.S. saying, share the burden. So there is no difference at all.
And we started this seven years ago.
And if there are other issues they raise, we are building a transparent organization, an accountable organization, a responsive organization, and we would respond to any queries or issues there are. And we hope U.S. will reconsider and work with us to continue the reform that we have started seven years ago.
And I think that would be actually one thing we expect as part of our goals now for the U.S. to come back, but look forward to their engagement.
At this time, Central Nevada Health District is not aware of any additional presumptive positive cases or symptomatic individuals. We continue testing and monitoring in the region in partnership with local dairy operations. This is an evolving situation and we will continue to communicate with reporters and the public when relevant new information is learned.
I said that communication has been challenging and that the traditional ways of communication have been disrupted. But that’s all I or we have. Feel free to join the global press briefing with Dr Tedros tomorrow, pm.
“the appropriations rider inserted in 2017 when Republicans controlled the Congress was ill-advised as it prohibited not just a rational discussion of how indirect cost rates should be calculated but also prohibited any attempts to relieve research institutions of arbitrary, outdated and objectively stupid regulatory burdens. It’s time for a transparent bipartisan discussion of whether taxpayers are getting cutting edge research out of NIH, whether researchers are subject to appropriate ethical obligations and whether all that paperwork should be required.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued a statement on the cap to indirect costs on biomedical research funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“I oppose the poorly conceived directive imposing an arbitrary cap on the indirect costs that are part of NIH grants and negotiated between the grant recipient and NIH. I have heard from the Jackson Laboratory, the University of Maine, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, the University of New England, and MDI Biological Laboratory, among others, that these cuts, which in some cases would apply retroactively to existing grants, would be devastating, stopping vital biomedical research and leading to the loss of jobs.
“This morning, I called Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, to express my strong opposition to these arbitrary cuts in funding for vital research at our Maine institutions, which are known for their excellence. He has promised that as soon as he is confirmed, he will re-examine this initiative that was implemented prior to his confirmation.
“Additionally, Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations legislation includes language that prohibits the use of funds to modify NIH indirect costs.
“There is no investment that pays greater dividends to American families than our investment in biomedical research. In Maine, scientists are conducting much-needed research on Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, and on how to improve efficiency in drug discovery, helping to lower the cost of prescription drugs, and conducting many other life-enhancing or life-saving research.”
“Foremost, anyone who has not been vaccinated for flu this season should get vaccinated immediately. Flu activity remains elevated and continues to increase across the country. While flu activity and flu season severity cannot be predicted and can vary from season to season, it is expected to see flu activity elevated and increasing at this time of the year. Flu activity in the United States can vary widely and is determined by several factors, including the characteristics of circulating flu viruses, the timing of the season, how many people have pre-existing immunity to circulating flu viruses, how well the flu vaccine is protecting those who are vaccinated against illness, and how many people get vaccinated.”
Information for Background:
According to the latest FluView Report, flu activity is increasing in all 10 HHS regions and across all age groups. Elevated flu activity is expected to continue for weeks and even months to come. There’s still time for individuals and family to benefit from the flu vaccine this season.”
I saw reports that there are several symptomatic dairy workers at the Churchill County dairies. Is that true?
At this time we have no evidence of dairy workers showing symptoms.
Please note that this is an evolving situation and we will continue to communicate with reporters and the public when relevant new information is learned.
Attributable to a CDC Spokesperson
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed a human infection with avian influenza A(H5) (H5 bird flu) in Nevada. This infection happened in a dairy worker with exposure to dairy cows experiencing an outbreak of H5 bird flu as reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The person experienced conjunctivitis (eye redness and irritation). This case involving cow-to-human spread of H5 in a person with higher-risk occupational exposure does not change CDC’s risk assessment, which remains low for the public but is higher for people with occupational or recreational exposures.
CDC will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available. For more information, read the Central Nevada Health District statement.
Background information
The individual in Nevada reported experiencing conjunctivitis, similar to most cases associated with dairy cows to date who had mild respiratory symptoms or conjunctivitis. The person did not need to be hospitalized and is recovering.
USDA has identified H5 viruses in dairy cows in Nevada as having the D1.1 genotype, the predominant virus in migratory birds. CDC’s full genome analysis of the virus from the human case in Nevada confirms that is the same virus as that found in the cows (D1.1). Based on available data this same virus likely infected 15 people in Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin during 2024. This virus (D1.1) is different from the virus (B3.13) that caused the dairy cow outbreaks and the majority of human infections in the United States to date. The majority of human infections in the United States have been mild irrespective of the H5 genotype, with the exception of the fatal case in Louisiana last year in a person who had prolonged, unprotected exposure to infected backyard birds.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on February 7 that H5 viruses identified in some dairy cows in Nevada contain a genetic mutation in the polymerase basic 2 (PB2) protein that has previously been associated with more efficient virus replication in people and other mammals (i.e., change of PB2 D701N). CDC’s analysis of sequence data from the human case in Nevada found this same mutation. This change was previously identified in a human case in Chile in 2023. No other changes associated with mammalian adaption were identified in the sequence data from the human case in Nevada. CDC also did not identify any changes in the sequence data that might impact antigenicity or susceptibility to antivirals. However, the virus will undergo further analysis and testing.
There is currently no evidence of person-to-person spread of H5N1 bird flu from this individual in Nevada to others. Combined with the mild nature of the individual’s illness, this case does not change CDC’s low risk assessment for the public. The risk assessment for H5 could change as more information about this case becomes available or as additional cases are detected. Influenza viruses constantly change, requiring continued surveillance and preparedness efforts. CDC is taking measures to be ready in case the current risk assessment for the public changes.
This development underscores the importance of recommended precautions in people with exposure to infected or potentially infected animals, including use of appropriate personal protective equipment. People with close or prolonged, unprotected exposures to infected cows, birds, or other animals (including livestock), or to environments contaminated by infected cows, birds, or other animals, are at greater risk of infection.
I read that the department thinks the virus spilled over from wild birds into cows independently at multiple dairies, as opposed to spreading between dairies. Is that right?
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We believe the initial infection came from spillover from wild birds. We are still conducting our epidemiology study to determine how it is being spread between dairies.
“People of all ages are at risk for getting pertussis (whooping cough). Everyone who is not up to date with whooping cough vaccination should get vaccinated. Data for January 2025 are pending confirmation; However, we are aware of 12 confirmed whooping cough deaths in 2024.”
Background Information:
Preliminary cases reported in 2024 are higher than cases for any year since 2014, but this is expected. Whooping cough is a cyclic disease, and the United States typically sees peaks in disease every 3-5 years; however, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted typical whooping cough patterns. Additionally, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) modified the whooping cough case definition on January 1, 2020. The changes were made to help improve case identification, which could lead to increased case counts. The 2020 CSTE case definition can be viewed here: https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/case-definitions/pertussis-2020/. Reported cases continue to remain elevated in 2025.
Babies are at greatest risk for have severe complications from whooping cough. Most whooping cough deaths are in babies younger than 3 months old―too young to be protected by having received their own vaccines. Vaccinating pregnant women with a whooping cough vaccine (Tdap) is the most important thing we can do to help protect babies during their first few months of life, before they are old enough to get their own whooping cough vaccines.
While whooping cough typically isn’t a severe illness for teens and adults, complications are possible. Also, the coughing fits can last for weeks or months. Whooping cough is usually less severe for those who have been vaccinated. Learn more about whooping cough vaccine recommendations: Whooping Cough Vaccination Whooping Cough CDC.
An outbreak of HPAI H5N9 (clade unidentified) was reported in France in 2015 and ended on 20 April 2016. Since then, no other outbreaks of this subtype has been reported from other countries until now.
Risk remains low despite what appears to be the introduction of a different genotype of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus into dairy cows based on the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Stakeholder Registry email. CDC continues to monitor this situation closely for signs that would indicate the risk to human health has changed.
This is the extent of the guidance we have for how we sort out our lives, plan our next steps, know how our senior can graduate from the school that is paid for or if we leave him behind somehow with trusted friends to do so, or how our 9yo knows when she says goodbye to her teachers and friends?
We are being traumatized without a plan, and for WHAT? There are ways to do this humanely and logically. If ppl think AID should be downsized, fine…do it legally, thoughtfully, and purposefully. And we are in a better situation than so many of our colleagues who we’ve worked alongside, who take great risks, and are just abandoned because of their hiring mechanism. This 90 day “review” that they said was going to happen… never was put out there in good faith. They’ve taken over our databases with our indicators and results, trying to keep us from accessing info to demonstrate the value of our work. Thev weren’t fast enough though. So, now they know they were going to lose with any bs “90 day review” so they had to cut us off from all of it, including the treasury payments via the culty tech bro teenagers they’re using so there is probably not even money to get us home. And I say this again, we are better off in this whole shitstorm than so many other people and families who are dedicating their lives to public service, diplomacy, humanitarian causes, saving lives, preventing coups, attacks….I’m so tired
We are literally trained for how to survive hostile situations, and are prepared for that as much as we can be, but this is next level, especially because it’s from our own country who we’ve taken oaths to serve
How many herds are believed to have been infected linked to the outbreak?
Detections of H5N1 have been made in dairy cattle in Nye County and Churchill County.
i. The detection in Nye County was confirmed in December of 2024 as H5N1 B3.13. This herd was placed under quarantine at the first sign of illness and will remain under quarantine until they test negative for 3 consecutive weeks.
ii. Four detections in Churchill County have been confirmed as H5N1 D1.1 and were placed under quarantine. Two additional herds in Churchill County have been placed under quarantine with “non-negative” laboratory results at a National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) lab and are awaiting confirmation from the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory.
Are you able to describe the kinds of symptoms that have been reported in cows?
Symptoms of H5N1 D1.1 have been similar to the detections of B3.13. These include fever, reduced feed consumption, reduced milk production and mild respiratory signs (coughing, sneezing, runny nose).
CMS has two senior Agency veterans – one focused on policy and one focused on operations – who are leading the collaboration with DOGE, including ensuring appropriate access to CMS systems and technology. We are taking a thoughtful approach to see where there may be opportunities for more effective and efficient use of resources in line with meeting the goals of President Trump.
Working on a story to publish this afternoon about the SVD outbreak in Uganda, and checking in to see if there’s a comment or statement to share on two details in our story:
CDC staff have been unable to coordinate with WHO in Uganda’s incident command to respond to the virus
CDC’s usual meetings with state and local health officials and external stakeholders to share information about the outbreak have not occurred, amid the current communications pause
Appreciate anything you can share by 2 p.m. ET today.
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This is inaccurate. CDC has been cleared to speak one-on-one with WHO counterparts related to response activities in Uganda, Tanzania and DRC.
Sen. Bill Cassidy [00:04:57]
Mr. Kennedy and the administration reached out seeking to reassure me regarding their commitment to protecting the public health benefit of vaccination.
To this end, Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I would have an unprecedentedly close, collaborative working relationship, if he is confirmed. We will meet or speak multiple times a month. This collaboration will allow us to work well together and therefore, to be more effective.
Mr. Kennedy has asked for my input into hiring decisions at HHS beyond Senate confirmed positions. And this aspect of the collaboration will allow us to represent all sides of those folks who are contacting me over this past weekend.
He has also committed that he would work within current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems and not establish parallel systems.
If confirmed, he’ll maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations without changes.
CDC will not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.
Mr. Kennedy and the administration also committed that this administration will not use the subversive techniques used under the Biden administration, like sue and settle, to change policies enacted by Congress without first going through Congress.
Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed to a strong role of Congress. Aside from he and I meeting regularly, he will come before the HELP committee on a quarterly basis if requested.
He committed that the HELP committee chair, whether it’s me or someone else, may choose a representative on any board or commission formed to review vaccine safety.
If he is confirmed, HHS will provide a 30 day notice to the HELP committee if the agency seeks to make changes to any of our federal vaccine safety monitoring programs and HELP committee will have the option to call a hearing to further review.
These commitments and my expectation that we can have a great working relationship to Make America Healthy Again is the basis of my support.
10:13:33 CRAPO: In response to members of the committee, Mr. Kennedy has even amended his ethics agreement going beyond what is required by the government office of ethics.
Mr. Kennedy has proven his commitment to the role of secretary of the HHS. And I will vote in favor of his nomination.
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10:14:29 WYDEN: The last several days we’ve witnessed an authoritarian takeover of our federal government by Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
They have set their sights on a full purge of anyone in government that doesn’t bend the knee and follow their orders.
They’ve taken over the Treasury Department’s payment system. And colleagues, that has a direct effect on major programs within our committee’s jurisdiction.
That includes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
For example, this committee voted for a major reform of pharmacy benefit manager legislation. We passed it 26 to nothing. But Trump and Musk killed it.
Think what they could do with abuse of the payment system.
Now, in my view, much of this is of dubious legality and constitutional authority. And certainly flies in face of congressional responsibilities.
I’ll wrap up on this point by saying I hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will not sit by while Musk and Trump make a mockery of the power Republicans hold in their congressional majority.
Now more than ever, the American people need leaders that will stand up to these abuses.
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10:19:08 WYDEN: Do senators want their legacy to include disregarding basic health science and instead elevate conspiracy theorists?
Making Robert Kennedy Secretary of Health and Human Services, in my view, colleagues, would be a grave threat to the health of the American people.
And I urge my colleagues this morning to vote no.
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10:22:35 CANTWELL: So the most challenging– I wanted to vote for Mr. Kennedy in the context of my family’s history.
My dad stood behind his father the night his father gave the famous speech. I told him in my office, in my family, the Kennedys stood up.
But when he answered Senator Cassidy’s question and he couldn’t even give him the answer that, yes, the data is there to support vaccines today.
I don’t need any more data.
All of a sudden, I saw this world that we got affected by in Seattle not being stood up for.
I need someone at HHS who is going to say we are going to be a leader in medical technology, science, vaccines, we are going to fight foreign powers, we are going to be there to provide global health.
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10:24:46 WARNOCK: I simply do not trust him to oversee the CDC.
He’s unqualified, and I dare say everybody here knows it. We need a serious person at the helm of the HHS, an agency responsible for about half of the health– of about half of all Americans.
Mr. Kennedy appears more obsessed in chasing conspiracy theories than chasing solutions to lower health care costs for working families in Georgia and to make sure that we are protected. The last thing we need is a dilettante aabbling in conspiracy theories at HHS.
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10:33:04 WARREN: Since we had our hearing last week, Mr. Kennedy has amended his ethics agreement.
Recall that his ethics agreement said that while he was secretary of HHS, he intended to retain a financial interest in ongoing vaccine litigation that he was already collecting money from.
And that he wanted to continue to collect that money even though he could affect the outcome of that litigation.
Now, he has since changed his position on that. Once this has been exposed and people have talked about it and have some pretty serious reservations about his doing that.
He has said that he will instead give his financial interest to his son. That is a fig leaf that is so small, it would take a magnifying glass to see it.
No one is fooled about what’s happening here.
Mr. Kennedy refuses to say that he will not participate in these lawsuits financially the day after he leaves office.
And yet, Mr. Kennedy has acknowledged first that the American people have a right to know that the decisions you’re making are decisions that are in their interest not in your future financial interest.
He has said he thinks that’s the right standard, and yet he has figured out how to make money off his anti-vax positions. He’s already raked in $2.5 million.
He is in a position where he can affect the outcomes by things he does as Secretary of HHS.
And yet he refuses to say that he will delay by even a day taking on anti-vax lawsuits the minute he leaves.
That is an appalling conflict of interest, and it’s one in which the American people can reasonably ask, is Mr. Kennedy’s plan to help the American people? Or is he planning to use this job to further enrich himself?
And he’s pointed out with his son, and enrich his family.
The importance of this litigation cannot be overstated. This is not only about a private company that gets sued and has to pay out.
Vaccine manufacturers often operate on very slim profit margins. If they get sued repeatedly and successfully, they simply move out of the vaccine space.
We’ve already seen this happen with vaccines in the past. 20 years ago, we watched vaccines just move away if they did not have protection from these kinds of lawsuits.
The consequence of Mr. Kennedy’s ability to make those lawsuits easier is also the ability to shut down access and manufacturing for vaccines for every one of us. And I think that’s a terrible mistake.
HHS continues to increase staff levels as we look forward to the new Secretary leading the agency. HHS has approved numerous communications related to critical health and safety needs and will continue to do so. In addition, ASPA is now more flexible with communications as HHS and its Divisions work to align with President Trump’s agenda.
There are several types of external communications that are no longer subject to the pause. All HHS divisions have been given clear guidance on how to seek approval for any other type of mass communication.
FDA’s Upper Management has made the decision to postpone/TBD the February 20, 2025, General and Plastic Surgery Devices Panel meeting.