When reports spread this week that the CDC was ending its federal measles diagnostic testing program, many public health observers sounded alarms. But one of the reporters who first broke the story quickly added essential context: in practice, the CDC has performed almost no measles diagnostic tests in 2026, because state and commercial laboratories have long since taken over that function.
That context matters enormously for understanding what this policy change actually does, and why critics say they are still alarmed.
