Public health relies on data – whether it is tracking the effectiveness of a given year’s flu vaccine, monitoring blood lead levels around the country or estimating the prevalence of diabetes. This data forms the basis for decisions such as whether a community should expand screening for diabetes and which communities are at greatest risk of severe flu-related illnesses.
But in January 2025, at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, webpages and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – and from many other federal agencies – began to disappear. In total, at least 200 CDC datasets and more than 8,000 webpages from across the government were taken down.
