A Dangerous Step Backward: Why Closing the CDC’s STD Lab Puts Lives at Risk 

In the early 20th century, before the creation of modern public health systems, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were rampant in the United States. Syphilis alone infected up to 10% of the population in some communities, devastating families, causing widespread infertility, blindness, severe neurological disorders, and even death (CDC, 2018).

Today, history threatens to repeat itself. Recent sweeping budget cuts and mass firings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have abruptly shuttered America's premier STD research laboratory. Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) terminated all 28 full-time employees without a clear explanation (STAT, 2025).

This lab closure is alarming to public health experts and disproportionately threatens marginalized communities, including minority groups and impoverished populations. These groups historically have less access to healthcare and are already at greater risk for STDs due to barriers such as limited preventive care, lack of sexual health education, and systemic inequalities (CDC Health Disparities Report, 2023). Without the CDC's specialized surveillance, drug-resistant infections could surge unchecked, putting vulnerable populations at even greater risk.

For survivors of human trafficking, this crisis hits especially hard. Individuals who experience trafficking often have limited or no access to consistent healthcare, making them significantly more susceptible to untreated or undetected STDs (Office on Trafficking in Persons, 2024). The dismantling of essential monitoring systems directly jeopardizes these survivors' health and safety, increasing their vulnerability and decreasing their chances for recovery and empowerment.

The CDC laboratory was pivotal in global efforts to monitor resistance to antibiotics used to treat gonorrhea, an infection rapidly approaching untreatable status due to evolving resistance. The facility also housed over 50,000 samples of gonorrhea strains, vital for developing future diagnostics and treatments (CDC STD Surveillance Report, 2024). Without the research and surveillance the CDC lab provided, experts fear a rapid return to a past where infections become rampant and untreatable, disproportionately impacting already marginalized populations.

“We are blind,” stated Jeffrey Klausner, an infectious disease expert from USC. The abrupt shutdown undermines decades of progress and disproportionately places minority, impoverished, and marginalized communities, including trafficking survivors, at increased risk (STAT, 2025).

Ina Park, a professor at UCSF School of Medicine, emphasized the severity, calling the move “horrific and shortsighted” (STAT, 2025). Without urgent corrective actions, the United States risks losing critical ground in combating STDs.

Survivor Source stands in solidarity with public health professionals who advocate for reversing this dangerous and shortsighted decision. We urgently call upon policymakers, public health advocates, and community leaders to pressure HHS and government officials to reinstate this vital laboratory and preserve essential research capabilities.

Act now—contact your representatives, demand accountability, and help ensure public health protections remain intact. Protecting public health infrastructure means safeguarding the most vulnerable among us, including survivors of trafficking, from preventable harm. Without immediate collective action, decades of progress against sexually transmitted diseases—and the health of countless vulnerable communities—could be irreversibly lost.

References:

• CDC. (2018). Syphilis & MSM (Men Who Have Sex with Men). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/stdfact-msm-syphilis.htm

• CDC Health Disparities Report. (2023). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• CDC STD Surveillance Report. (2024). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Office on Trafficking in Persons. (2024). U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

• STAT. (2025). CDC shutters premier STD lab amid unexplained budget cuts.

Lara K. - April 6, 2025