A week after the inauguration, the American senator Rand Paul de Kentucky issued a Congress Citations Ráfaga to 14 agencies, including NIH and HHS. The senator said that continuous research was being carried out to “criticize the process that allowed this dangerous investigation, which may have led to the pandemic.”
In a citation sent to a pentagon agency, Paul is looking for “all records related to the revelations of complainants or complaints of waste, fraud and abuse involving the origins of COVID-19, research gain of functions, double use research of concern or life sciences research, “according to a copy of the citation provided to britcommerce. In addition, it seeks any financing provided to Ecohealth Alliance by USAID and other departments.
A personnel member of one of the agencies led by the citation says that tens of thousands of records under previous citations have already provided the senator, demonstrating that his agency does a critical work in the follow -up and containment of sprouts of infectious diseases worldwide. And yet, they say, they feel that they are still being attacked by Paul and other Republicans with the accusation that they are building Biowapons. “He won’t die.”
Many of the sources that spoke with britcommerce said that they fear that this witch hunt could be accelerated in the coming months. More acutely, they are worried that the United States is destroying its ability to anticipate, monitor and respond to the outbreaks of infectious diseases.
“They have an assumption that Virology research is inherently dangerous and there are really not many benefits,” says Angela Rasmussen, virologist of the organization of vaccines and infectious diseases of the University of Saskatchewan.
“They are simply to completely tithe the science and our understanding of the world, and our ability to combat pandemics, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and everything else,” predicts a researcher, “which is silly like a rock.”
This does not seem to bother Kennedy. In at least two of his books, he characterizes practically all virological work as a biowapons research. In a November 2023 speech to the virulently anti -vaccinoto give a break to infectious disease for approximately eight years. “
The consequences
This potential turns away from the investigation of infectious diseases and towards chronic diseases occurs when the United States faces an H5N1 avian flu outbreak. “Our epidemiologists are [looking for] The first case of transmission from humans to humans, is not even a needle in a haystack, is a needle in a pile of needles, “says the former CDC official.
Last Wednesday night, a main advisor to the CDC responsible for the H5N1 policy response, Erin Abramsahn, announced his resignation. In LinkedIn publicationAbramsahn cited work with his team through “Chaos and uncertainty, transition, reorganization, preparation and response”, and mentioned his efforts to make a backup copy of his files before giving up.
Rasmussen and some colleagues have also been competing to archive the massive volumes of government investigation, for fear that it can be completely disconnected, as has been done in USAID and other places.
The former CDC official adds that the new administration seems to be established in changing how vaccines will be recommended to the public and how CDCs can communicate the effectiveness of the vaccine, particularly to vulnerable populations. Like most government agencies in the United States, CDCs and NIH have also been given edicts to eliminate references to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on their websites.
“We had to pass and scrub the language of the questions and documents of the survey, and the internal and external websites,” says the former CDC official. “If you can’t get it, go down the entire website.”
The sources tell britcommerce that this language edict extends to ongoing research. Scientists have been forced to travel their questionnaires and edit their documents still to publish to eliminate reverence for gender or transgender people.
“I think we are really worried,” says the former CDC official, “how much damage we will not be able to undo.”