CDC Publication Returns After Forced Hiatus

After a two-week suspension attributed to President Trump's "pause" on regulations, guidance, announcements, press releases, social media posts, and website posts, the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) has resumed publication, with looks at the health effects of recent wildfires in Hawaii and California.

The first reports post-hiatus focus on wildfire health impacts in Hawaii and California. One report analyzes PFAS levels in 180 firefighters and 80 county employees following the Maui wildfire. Researchers found elevated PFAS levels in firefighters, though still below medical thresholds. Another study observes a 9% drop in ER visits during the Los Angeles wildfires, which syncs with prior research that has found such decreases in the immediate wake of natural disasters.

Sen. Dick Durbin criticized the publication's pause, emphasizing: "Outbreaks are not contained because scientists are ordered to stop talking about them." Considered "the voice of the CDC," the weekly MMWR had not taken a two-week break since its 1961 inception. It counts 147,000 subscribers, among them doctors, nurses, educators, researchers, and public health scientists. While its issues generally clock in at 20 to 25 pages, Thursday's edition was just over eight pages. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)