The CDC laid off all of the staff in its Vessel Sanitation Program, whose salaries are paid by cruise ship company fees, according to CBS News. A smaller group of 12 U.S. Public Health Service officers will take over the role.
The CDC’s VSP inspects cruise vessels twice a year to ensure compliance with health standards. Heightened scrutiny has been directed at cruise ships recently due to outbreaks of norovirus — 12 outbreaks have already been documented this year, compared to 18 outbreaks for all of 2024.
One official said the laid-off staff were handling two norovirus outbreaks when they were fired.
In a statement to the outlet, a Department of Health and Human Services official said work on cruise ships will continue as U.S. Public Health Service officers take on the role.
“Critical programs in the CDC will continue under Secretary Kennedy’s vision to streamline HHS to better serve Americans. CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) continues to monitor and assist with gastrointestinal outbreaks and track and report these illnesses,” they said in a statement.
Despite these assurances, critics argue that the cut staff will have trouble contending with the new outbreaks.
“None of the civilian staff are there to support them. So I don’t know how long they will be able to sustain their mission alone without any support,” said Erik Svendsen, former head of the CDC’s axed Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice.
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The cuts are the latest from the Department of Government Efficiency, which has caused friction with the heads of several agencies. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chafed with DOGE previously, having to reinstate crucial programs that were mistakenly axed.
When asked in an interview on Wednesday about $11 billion in proposed cuts to local and state programs by the Trump administration, including programs addressing infectious diseases, mental health, addiction, and childhood vaccination, Kennedy said he wasn’t familiar with them.
