W. At Least A Dozen Norovirus Outbreaks Under Way, CDC Lays Off Cruise Ship Health Inspectors, Including Epidemiologist

All of the full-time employees in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vessel Sanitation Program are now off the job, multiple officials tell CBS News, gutting the agency's ability to investigate outbreaks and conduct health inspections on cruise ships. A smaller group of 12 U.S. Public Health Service officers will remain.

The steep cuts to the program's inspectors baffled CDC officials since the small team's staff is not paid for by taxpayer dollars. Fees from cruise ships companies pay for the program, which is supposed to inspect large vessels at least twice a year. The epidemiologist tasked with leading the agency's outbreak response on cruise ships was included in the layoffs, multiple CDC officials said. The cuts come as the U.S. has been battling a record surge of norovirus, largely driven by a new strain of the virus.

At least a dozen outbreaks have been documented so far this year on cruise ships, mostly from norovirus. Some of those outbreaks have made headlines for sickening dozens or even hundreds of people. There were 18 total outbreaks listed for all of last year. Agency staff were in the middle of responding to two outbreaks when they were let go, an official said.

They were cut as part of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s layoffs across the nation's public health agencies, which included cutting around 2,400 employees of the CDC.

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-cruise-ship-inspectors-layoffs-outbreaks-norovirus/