CDC Ordered to End WHO Collaboration

By India Edwards 

TUESDAY, Jan. 28, 2025 -- Staff at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been told to stop communicating with the World Health Organization (WHO) after President Donald Trump's order withdrawing from the health agency.

The memo was sent late Sunday from the CDC's deputy director of global health, Dr. John Nkengasong.

"Effective immediately all CDC staff engaging with WHO through technical working groups, coordinating centers, advisory boards, cooperative agreements or other means – in person or virtual – must cease their activity and await further guidance," the memo states.

The decision stems from Trump's Jan. 20 executive order, which states that the U.S. provided notice of withdrawal during his first term in 2020 and can now cut ties immediately. According to CNN, federal law typically requires one year of notice before such withdrawal can take effect.

CNN did not receive comments from the White House, the CDC, WHO, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This move comes as the world grapples with outbreaks of dangerous infectious diseases like bird flu.

Experts warn that forgoing collaboration with WHO could seriously affect global health.

"This move is reckless basically ordering CDC not to work with WHO to put out fires is going to make Americans far more vulnerable," Dr. Lawrence Gostin, a global health expert at Georgetown University who runs a WHO coordinating center on national and international health law, told CNN.

The CDC maintains offices in more than 60 countries to monitor infectious disease outbreaks.

According to CNN, Gostin said that if Trump is trying to negotiate a better deal with WHO, there are better ways to do it.

"President Trump is asking CDC to hit the pause button. But the truth is that viruses don't take a break from circulating while the White House figures out its next move," he told CNN. "If you want to figure out what your future relationship is with WHO, you stay in the fight until you figured it out, and then you make your move. You don't just quit the battle while you're trying to figure something out, because the enemy – which is the virus – is still circulating and causing mayhem."