Reuters reported on February 14, 2025, citing 11 sources, that communication and coordination in parts of the U.S. bird-flu response were disrupted during the first weeks of the Trump administration. The reported interruptions included two unpublished CDC reports, canceled meetings, a pause in congressional briefings, and U.S. nonparticipation in a WHO influenza meeting. The report did not measure whether these events caused additional infections or increased the outbreak’s spread.
The account describes specific concerns and agency responses, not proof that federal bird-flu work stopped altogether. USDA said it maintained regular communications and resumed congressional briefings on February 7; HHS said some external communications resumed after a temporary communications freeze ended February 1.
What did Reuters report?
Reuters’ February 14, 2025 report drew on 11 sources familiar with or involved in the response. According to two sources familiar with CDC activity, the agency did not publish two reports scheduled for January 23. The reports concerned H5N1 infections among indoor cats and wastewater surveillance near poultry and dairy farms in Oregon. Those sources attributed the delay to a lengthy and unusual review process.
Reuters also reported that CDC canceled several meetings with state officials. Five sources said weekly or biweekly meetings with state veterinarians and congressional staff were canceled after the inauguration. CDC and USDA held no congressional briefings for three weeks, Reuters reported; USDA said it resumed those briefings on February 7.
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The United States also did not participate in a WHO meeting of influenza specialists during the week before Reuters published its report. Scott Prendergast, a director in WHO’s health-emergencies team, said: “We no longer have the communication of things that are happening in the U.S.”
Reported interruptions and what they establish
| Channel | What Reuters reported | What is established—and what is not |
|---|---|---|
| CDC reports | Two reports scheduled for January 23, concerning H5N1 in indoor cats and wastewater surveillance in Oregon, were not published then. | Sources attributed the delay to an unusual review process. The report does not establish that the findings were permanently suppressed or that the delay caused infections. |
| State coordination | CDC canceled several meetings with state officials; sources described canceled recurring meetings with state veterinarians. | The account documents reported interruptions in coordination. It does not quantify any resulting health effect. |
| Congressional briefings | CDC and USDA held no congressional briefings for three weeks, according to Reuters. | USDA said it resumed briefings on February 7. This response should be read alongside the reported pause. |
| International exchange | The United States did not participate in a WHO influenza-specialist meeting the week before publication. | Prendergast described a loss of communication. The report does not establish that the United States ended all international influenza cooperation. |
What concerns did state and laboratory officials raise?
Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, said: “The confusion over messaging and who can say what or anything is complicating matters at a bad time.”
Shauna Voss, interim assistant director of Minnesota’s Board of Animal Health, said Minnesota had not received answers to January questions about a USDA program to increase turkey testing. She said: “That certainly chaotic messaging can trickle down to the state level and ultimately can impact our farmers who produce our food.”
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These statements describe officials’ concerns about information flow and its possible effects. Reuters’ report does not quantify delays in diagnosis or show that the reported disruptions caused additional infections or animal cases.
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USDA said it maintained regular communication with federal agencies and external parties throughout the transition. It also said congressional briefings resumed on February 7.
HHS said some external communications resumed after a temporary public-health communications freeze ended on February 1. HHS did not answer Reuters’ detailed questions. These agency statements are important context, but they do not resolve every specific concern raised by Reuters’ sources.
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What was the outbreak context?
The figures available at the time were dated snapshots, not current totals. Reuters reported on February 14, 2025, that nearly 70 people in the United States had been infected since April 2024 and one person had died. It also reported that approximately 159 million chickens, turkeys, and other birds had been lost since the poultry outbreak began in 2022.
For earlier context, CDC’s August 16, 2024 update reported 13 U.S. human cases since April 2024, 191 affected dairy herds in 13 states, and H5 detections affecting 18.68 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks since April 2024. These are CDC’s August 2024 figures, not current counts.
CDC described its 2024 response as a One Health collaboration involving CDC, USDA, FDA, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, state public-health and animal-health officials, and other partners. In its August 2024 update, CDC said its National Syndromic Surveillance Program used electronic health record data from more than 6,500 U.S. healthcare facilities, representing nearly 80% of emergency departments in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Guam. Those figures describe system coverage, not H5N1 case detection.
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What does CDC report now?
CDC’s situation page dated March 6, 2026, said 71 total reported U.S. A(H5) human cases had occurred since February 2024: seven detected through national flu surveillance and 64 through human monitoring. CDC characterized current public-health risk as low and said it was monitoring people with animal exposures.
CDC also explains that its reporting setup changed: since July 7, 2025, it has streamlined updates with routine influenza reporting. Human cases remain on CDC pages, while animal detection data are provided by USDA. These later details provide current context; they do not retroactively verify or erase the reported events of early 2025.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is documented, and what remains unproven?
Reuters’ account documents source reports of two unpublished CDC reports, canceled coordination meetings, a three-week pause in congressional briefings, and U.S. nonparticipation in one WHO specialist meeting. It also includes USDA and HHS responses about continued or resumed communications.
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The report does not establish that these interruptions caused additional infections, delayed a diagnosis, or increased outbreak spread. The evidence supports describing reported communication and coordination problems while leaving their health consequences unquantified.
FAQ
Did the U.S. bird-flu response stop?
Reuters reported interruptions in several communication and coordination channels, not that all federal response activity stopped. USDA said it maintained regular communications and resumed congressional briefings on February 7, 2025.
Which CDC reports were not published on schedule?
Reuters reported that two reports scheduled for January 23, 2025, were not published then. They concerned H5N1 infections among indoor cats and wastewater surveillance near poultry and dairy farms in Oregon.
Did the reported disruptions cause more infections?
The Reuters report does not measure or establish that the interruptions caused additional infections, delayed diagnosis, or increased outbreak spread.
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CDC’s March 6, 2026 situation page reported 71 total U.S. A(H5) human cases since February 2024. This is a dated figure from that page, not an undated or future case count.
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