State, local health departments watching Trump administration’s health communications pause

State and local health officials say it’s too early to tell how a temporary halt on federal health communications will affect their work.

Employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were told to halt all public communications until Feb. 1, according to reporting by The Washington Post and other national media.

Some former federal officials have said it’s not unusual for a department to pause some communications during the transition between administrations. 

But other health leaders have expressed concern that the pause appears to include public health information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other data used by state and local officials. They worry a delay could affect the ongoing response to a growing number of bird flu cases in humans across the country. 

A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said it’s too soon for the agency to comment on the impact of delayed federal communications. The agency declined WPR’s request for an interview.

Public Health Madison & Dane County also declined an interview request. In a statement, a spokesperson said the department is concerned by the pause in communications. 

“We closely follow the guidance and health education information shared by CDC and other federal health agencies,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “It’s too early for us to tell the impact of the pause since we don’t know how long it will last or what future communication will be affected.”

This spokesperson said the pause does not affect local public health communication and the department will continue to “use evidence-based information to guide our decision making.”

A spokesperson for the Milwaukee Health Department said her agency does not anticipate any significant disruptions because of the pause. 

The department also declined WPR’s interview request. The spokesperson told WPR that local leaders believe it’s not uncommon for an incoming federal administration to take time to establish communications from new leadership. 

She said the Milwaukee department is continuing to make sure accurate and timely information is available at the local level.

The CDC issued a health advisory last week urging hospitals and laboratories to expedite testing used to identify the type of influenza virus affecting a hospitalized patient, especially for people in an intensive care unit. The agency said the approach “can help prevent delays in identifying human infections with avian influenza” and support timely infection control efforts.

The first human death from avian influenza was reported earlier this month. The patient from Louisiana was also the first to experience severe illness from the virus.

Wisconsin has identified one human case of avian influenza in a poultry farm employee in December. The CDC has reported 67 human cases of bird flu since last year, primarily in people exposed to the virus on dairy and poultry farms.