CDC pauses dozens of types of lab testing during evaluation and in wake
of downsizing
[April 02, 2026]
By MIKE STOBBE
NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government's disease-tracking agency has
paused its diagnostic testing for rabies, monkeypox and a number of
other infectious diseases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week posted a list
of more than two dozen types of testing that have become unavailable.
This is not the first time the CDC has paused some of its lab testing.
But it is pausing more kinds of tests than ever before, and it is not
totally clear why, said Scott Becker, chief executive officer of the
Association of Public Health Laboratories.
A government spokesman called the pause temporary and attributed it to
“a routine review to uphold our commitment to high quality laboratory
testing.”
“We anticipate some of these tests will be available through CDC labs
again in the coming weeks. In the meantime, CDC stands ready to support
our state and local partners to access the public health testing they
need,” said Andrew Nixon of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, which oversees the CDC.
CDC's laboratory operations were faulted during the COVID-19 pandemic,
and they were the subject of a subsequent work group's review. The
agency has been evaluating its testing since 2024, Becker said.
But there can be other reasons for taking tests offline, including
staffing issues, he noted.
The pausing of lab testing comes in the wake of the dramatic downsizing
of the CDC in the last year through layoffs, retirements, resignations
and the nonrenewal of temporary appointments. Staffing fell by 20% to
25%, according to different estimates, and was felt across the agency —
including in the laboratories.
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A sign with the CDC logo is displayed at the entrance to the
agency's headquarters in Atlanta on March 2, 2025. (Miguel
Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
 The poxvirus and rabies labs lost
about half their prior staff, and the CDC’s malaria branch was
gutted even more, according to the National Public Health Coalition,
an organization of former and current CDC workers that formed in the
wake of the downsizing.
Some of the paused testing focuses on common infections for which
commercial testing is available, like Epstein-Barr virus, and the
varicella zoster virus behind chickenpox and shingles. But also on
the list is testing for some more exotic agents, like the for
parasitic worms responsible for “snail fever” and for the virus that
causes “sloth fever.”
Some specialized state labs, like those in the New York and
California, have the ability to pick up the slack while CDC tests
are on pause, Becker said.
He called the pauses “concerning, only if it’s permanent."
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