Federal Shutdown Disrupts State Health Data, Leaving Communities Vulnerable to Disease Outbreaks
As the federal shutdown continues, states are being forced to rely on their own resources to monitor disease outbreaks, just as the respiratory illness season begins. The shutdown has halted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) dashboards and expert analysis, which provide early warnings of the spread of COVID-19, influenza, RSV, and other infectious diseases. This pause in federal support leaves states with less early warning on disease outbreaks, potentially endangering lives, especially as child vaccination rates drop amid increased exemptions and hesitancy fueled by misinformation.
Impact on Wastewater Surveillance and Disease Outbreak Detection
Wastewater surveillance is a crucial tool for detecting disease outbreaks before people start seeking treatment, according to Dr. John T. Brooks, a former chief medical officer for the CDC’s Emergency COVID-19 Response. “This is one more piece of information to each American citizen to inform their decision, like, ‘Do I want to get vaccinated, and is now the time?'” Brooks said. The absence of CDC involvement in wastewater surveillance could be a problem if states miss major issues, said Ericka McGowan, senior director for emerging infectious disease at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
Some states, like Washington, rely on the CDC’s dashboards to display wastewater surveillance information to the public. Now, only state officials can see the information, and they would have to rethink the system if the shutdown continues, McGowan said. Caitlin Rivers, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University who studies infectious disease outbreaks, checked all 50 states for shutdown-related data issues and found that the result of the shutdown is “DIY surveillance.”
State-by-State Response to the Shutdown
Georgia had to pause its influenza report, which would normally start this month, because of missing CDC data. However, health officials are working on a version using only state information, said Nancy Nydam, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Health. Some hospitals report cases to the state and some directly to the CDC, so there will be some information gaps during the shutdown, she said. In the meantime, Georgia has its own data on emergency room visits showing cases of suspected COVID-19, flu, and RSV declining between August and early October.
Other states, like Texas and North Carolina, have their own wastewater surveillance programs and are not experiencing significant disruptions. However, even if they have their own wastewater data, other state and local health departments may rely on the CDC for analysis and guidance, said McGowan. “Even if you collect the data, you still have to have someone who is an expert to analyze that data to give you some kind of result,” McGowan said. “A lot of localities don’t have that kind of expertise in house and they rely on the CDC for that type of technical expertise and guidance. So there’s a gap there.”
Concerns About the Spread of Diseases
Rivers wrote in her post that she sees “clouds on the horizon” in some states, with more young children visiting emergency rooms in Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, and also more hospitalizations in Texas. The shutdown’s impact on state health data is a concern, especially as the respiratory illness season begins. As the situation continues to unfold, it is essential for states to find alternative solutions to monitor disease outbreaks and protect their communities.
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