Staff at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been instructed to cease all collaboration with the World Health Organization a significant setback for global health coordination, according to a new memo.
The directive follows President Donald Trump’s January 20 executive order formalizing the U.S. withdrawal from WHO.
The memo, issued late Sunday by CDC Deputy Director of Global Health Dr. John Nkengasong and obtained by CNN, was first reported by the Associated Press.
“Effective immediately all CDC staff engaging with WHO through technical working groups, coordinating centers, advisory boards, cooperative agreements or other means – in person or virtual – must cease their activity and await further guidance,” the memo stated
As one of WHO’s largest funders, U.S. federal law typically requires a one-year notice before financial support can be withdrawn.
However, Trump’s executive order claims that legal notice was initiated in 2020, enabling immediate withdrawal.
Requests for comment from the White House, CDC, WHO, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services went unanswered.
Global health expert Dr. Lawrence Gostin, who leads a WHO coordinating center on national and global health law at Georgetown University, criticized the decision.
“This move is reckless, basically ordering CDC not to work with WHO to put out fires is going to make Americans far more vulnerable,” he said.
Gostin expressed concerns about the lack of international collaboration amid global threats like the spread of the lethal Marburg virus and H5N1 bird flu in animals.
He also noted that Trump has reportedly recalled all CDC staff seconded to WHO offices abroad, a decision outlined in the January 20 executive order.
The CDC operates a network of international offices in over 60 countries, which often serve as early warning systems for emerging infectious disease outbreaks.
“If Trump is trying to negotiate a better deal with WHO, there are better ways to go about it,” Gostin argued. “President Trump is asking CDC to hit the pause button. But the truth is that viruses don’t take a break from circulating while the White House figures out its next move. If you want to figure out what your future relationship is with WHO, you stay in the fight until you figured it out, and then you make your move. You don’t just quit the battle while you’re trying to figure something out, because the enemy – which is the virus – is still circulating and causing mayhem.”
