Earlier this week, news broke that the Trump administration put a “pause” on federal health agency communications. According to a memo obtained by NPR, the directive told federal health agencies to stop most external communications for the time being, which includes issuing documents, guidance or notices, until they can be approved by "a presidential appointee." This also includes communication on social media. The action, according to the document, is "consistent with precedent,” and reportedly applies until February 1.
According to the NPR report, federal officials are concerned about how “temporary” this freeze will be, and if they will be allowed to release information they had already planned for this week. These concerns come at an urgent time — when public health experts have been advocating relentlessly for more surveillance around the current bird flu situation.
