Trump Administration Dismisses Nearly Half of Elite US Epidemiology Program Disease Detectives Amidst Fears of Bird Flu and Efforts to Downsize Federal Government

Washington D.C. - In a move that has sent shockwaves through the public health community, the Trump administration announced on Friday that it had dismissed nearly half of an elite US epidemiology program known as the "disease detectives." The program, which is responsible for investigating outbreaks across the country, was hit particularly hard, with over 1,300 CDC employees - roughly 10% of the agency's workforce - losing their jobs.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the dismissals were part of a broader effort by President Trump to downsize the federal government, which has been a major focus for his administration since taking office. The cuts also come as newly-confirmed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr vows to overhaul the nation's health agencies.

"We're on the verge of potentially another pandemic and we're firing the people who have probably more expertise than anyone else in the country collectively," said a senior epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who supervised some of those affected by the cuts. "Without those officers, we would not have eliminated smallpox from the globe."

The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a two-year post-doctoral training program whose officers have been on the frontline of investigating outbreaks from the first Ebola cases in Africa in the 1970s to the earliest case reports of Covid-19 in the United States. The program is known colloquially as the "disease detectives" and is considered one of the most prestigious and storied programs of the CDC.

The dismissals have been met with anger from public health experts, who argue that they will directly impact the national and health security of the US. "Any attempts to end this program will directly impact the national and health security of the US," said infectious disease physician Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University.

The efforts to downsize the federal government have been a major focus for President Trump since taking office, and it appears that the EIS cuts are just one part of a broader effort to reduce the size of the agency. Health Secretary RFK Jr has already expressed skepticism about infectious disease research and has proposed pausing research into widely accepted diseases like HIV and AIDS.

As fears rise over bird flu and other public health threats, many are left wondering what the impact will be on the country's ability to respond to outbreaks in the event of a pandemic.