Exclusive: Trump admin shutting key US researchers out of global virus response talks, documents and sources reveal - CNN

- Key US infectious disease researchers have been barred from directly communicating with the World Health Organization during ongoing virus outbreaks, according to sources and internal Health and Human Services agency communication.

- The restrictions to staff at the agency once led by Dr. Anthony Fauci were in place when hantavirus infections first broke out. Staff could participate in WHO meetings after Ebola outbreaks intensified, but in listen-only mode.

- Multiple top health positions remain vacant as the restrictions limit cooperation with global counterparts during public health emergencies.

Key officials responsible for leading US research on infectious disease threats have been barred from speaking directly with the World Health Organization — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus outbreaks, according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN.

The internal Trump administration policy stops individuals at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from communicating with the WHO unless authorized by senior staff.

The federal health subagency was led for decades by Dr. Anthony Fauci and oversaw developing treatments for public health emergencies including HIV/AIDs and Covid-19.

The prohibition has been in place during an outbreak of hantavirus that some Americans have been exposed to. The communication limits were relaxed slightly in the past week as another virus outbreak — an unfolding Ebola epidemic centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo — intensified.

Now, some NIAID officials can attend virtual WHO meetings, but only in small groups and only in a “listening capacity,” according to a May 18 email from a senior NIAID official to staff obtained by CNN. Any follow-up to those meetings would be handled by the Department of Health and Human Services, NIAID’s parent agency.

“We’ll be operating in the same manner for Ebola as we have been doing for Hantavirus, assembling a small groups of experts — no more than three — to participate,” the email said. “Should we have legitimate research questions or countermeasure testing ideas, we can bring those up through the proper chain of command.”

The restrictions hobble quick cooperation with global counterparts, multiple current and former health officials said. One staffer characterized it as unheard of during a US response to emerging public health emergencies.

After the publication of this story, an administration official told CNN that up to 30 NIAID staff members are now cleared to attend.

The directive is part of a broader Trump administration retreat from participation in global health forums — the US withdrew from WHO in January at President Donald Trump’s direction, a move that was widely criticized by public health officials — and as many US health agencies are operating with interim heads.

Among the vacant positions are the director of the infectious disease agency; surgeon general; head of the Food and Drug Administration; deputy health secretary; and head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — a leadership vacuum that observers say is unprecedented.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said it “engages with the WHO to support information sharing and coordination during infectious disease outbreaks” through the CDC — which is on the ground in disease outbreaks — and it is “fully equipped to protect Americans and mitigate risks.”

“Teams across the Department coordinate on key response areas, including contact tracing, diagnostics, and medical countermeasures, to avoid duplication and reduce confusion in outbreak response efforts,” the spokesperson said.

A health leadership vacuum

When American passengers from a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship landed in Nebraska, it was Assistant Secretary for Health Brian Christine who was dispatched to the Omaha hospital where patients were being monitored.

Christine, a penile implant expert with a history of far-right comments, is not in charge of the government’s hantavirus response. But he was sent as the administration’s public face because a more senior health official was not available, according to a source familiar with the decision-making.

Earlier this month, Trump tapped his third nominees for both surgeon general and CDC director.