CDC Terminates Hundreds of Public Health Employees, Including Veterinarians in Key Roles
The Trump administration abruptly terminated hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday, including fellows responsible for critical public health functions. Among those affected were veterinarians working in disease surveillance, outbreak response, and laboratory leadership positions, according to two sources at the agency who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to concerns over retaliation to NBC News.
Among those dismissed were about two dozen members of the Laboratory Leadership Service (LLS)—a program that trains public health laboratory staff and supports outbreak response efforts. Launched in 2015, the two-year fellowship focuses on laboratory safety, regulatory compliance, and pathogen detection, with many veterinarians specializing in zoonotic disease surveillance.
“We have come up with a new slogan for LLS: ‘the disease detectors.’ If you’re not testing, you don’t know what disease is there,” said a current fellow who was among those terminated.
Termination emails sent to LLS staff Saturday evening cited poor performance as the reason for the firings, despite many affected employees having received “excellent” performance reviews, according to a midlevel CDC official.
Additionally, reports suggest that another crucial program—the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)—also faced deep cuts. The EIS, often referred to as the CDC’s “disease detectives,” plays a pivotal role in investigating disease outbreaks, including zoonotic threats such as avian influenza and rabies. Veterinarians specializing in epidemiology have historically been part of EIS, contributing to disease tracking and response efforts.
A senior CDC official expressed concern over the terminations:
"Even if EIS was spared, there are multiple other fellowships that were not, and that's a pipeline for the next generation of CDC leaders. We're being cut off at the knees. This is going to cripple public health for decades."
Other affected programs include:
The Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) – a program designed to develop future public health leaders, including veterinarians specializing in one health and zoonotic disease policy.
The Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) – which assigns fellows, including veterinarians, to local health agencies to assist with disease surveillance and biosecurity efforts.
Chaos and Lack of Transparency
The termination process has been described as chaotic, with little transparency. Nearly two weeks ago, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed CDC leadership to review a list of probationary or term-limited employees—including directors, fellows, and noncitizen scientists—to determine their retention status. However, according to CDC officials, this list did not appear to be used in the final firing decisions.
Veterinarians and other public health professionals who received termination notices expressed more concern for the future of public health than their own jobs.
“A lot of us could have gone into more lucrative careers in pharma or biotech and made much more money,” said one terminated fellow. “But we’re passionate about public health and want to see it succeed.”
Impact on Disease Surveillance
Veterinarians in these roles have played crucial parts in zoonotic disease detection, including efforts to monitor and control emerging threats like H5N1 avian influenza, rabies, and brucellosis. Recent projects led by LLS fellows included dengue fever testing in American Samoa, Oropouche virus detection in Florida, and overseeing COVID-19 testing for thousands of residents in Arizona.
The mass terminations come amid broader federal workforce reductions. A directive from the Office of Personnel Management has instructed agencies across the government to dismiss probationary employees, affecting hundreds of thousands of workers, including those at the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Transportation.
A Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) representative defended the cuts as part of a federal effort to streamline government operations.
"HHS is following the Administration’s guidance to restructure and ensure we serve the American people efficiently,"wrote Andrew Nixon, HHS’s director of communications.
However, public health experts warn that these cuts—particularly to veterinarians and specialists in zoonotic disease—could leave the U.S. more vulnerable to emerging threats at the human-animal interface.
As disease surveillance programs lose critical personnel, one former CDC fellow put it simply:
"The next pandemic won’t wait for us to rebuild."
