The Trump administration's abrupt decision to pull down web pages, datasets, and selected information from federal health websites has caused alarm among scientists. While some data has been restored, concerns remain about missing information and the implications for public health.
Parts of the website for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) have been altered and pages have been removed. Some data is back, but scientists remain concerned about what's still missing. Scientists and public health leaders are taking stock of the Trump administration's abrupt decision to pull down web pages, datasets, and selected information from federal health websites.
These websites, used by policymakers to track rates of infectious diseases such as HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), disappeared but are now back. However, pages that explained the social factors that make communities vulnerable in the event of a disaster remain offline. Some pages have been scrubbed of certain words or categories of people. For example, on the CDC website that previously referred to 'pregnant people' now refer to 'pregnant women.' But, researchers are systematically comparing archival data with the updated datasets that have been reposted online. In response to a request for comment on the missing and altered content on its website, a CDC spokesperson wrote in an email: 'All changes to the HHS website and HHS division websites are in accordance with President Trump's January 20 Executive Orders. The Office of Personnel Management has provided initial guidance on both Executive Orders and HHS and divisions are acting accordingly to execute.'The removal of data and web pages has caused widespread concern among the scientific community. 'We're actually dimming the lights on our ability to protect and preserve the health of all Americans,' says Dr. Georges Benjamin, a senior scholar at Stanford University and former commissioner of the New York State Department of Health. As news spread late last week, so did an internet-wide effort among scientists, journalists, and concerned citizens to archive reams of data and web pages. Some of the clinical guidelines, like those on reproductive health, are missing. A data scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health helped organize a 'datathon' to help preserve health data on January 31. He says the efforts to preserve data started back in November 2024 but were not complete by Friday's purge. 'These federal websites are gigantic, and result in terabytes of data,' he says. While they've succeeded in preserving certain tools and datasets, 'We're not sure yet to what extent we've captured all the web pages that have disappeared,' he says. Legal experts anticipate broader legal challenges regarding the constitutionality of President Trump's executive orders and the public's First Amendment rights to accessing governmental information, among others. Congressional members have asked the acting CDC director, Susan Monarez, a Trump appointee, for an explanation of why the data was taken down and the plans to safeguard and restore access to it. The committee members requested a written response by February 7, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by NPR. So far, Shah says, they have not heard back yet. Dr. Perry Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health, says he was struck by the 'haphazard' manner in which sites were scrubbed or pulled down. Halkitis now worries about the future of other critical databases maintained by the federal government, including the National Institutes of Health's. 'Those of us who do science with marginalized populations, we're going to have to piece it together from our own research somehow,' says Halkitis, noting that he and his colleagues scrambled to download HIV data last week in anticipation that references to gender and race, both of which are key to understanding the epidemiology of the disease, might be removed. The loss of essential data on infectious disease outbreaks affects the American public, beyond certain populations that appear to be targeted. 'These data help us understand, as scientists and clinicians, where infectious diseases and outbreaks are, so even if you are not part of that group, it helps us keep you safe,' he says. The lack of communication about this data and information gap also disrupts the relationship between the CDC and its partners. 'All of the work that happens between scientists, communities, the CDC, and others takes decades to build up over trust, and trust is based on transparency. That trust has been violated,' he says. Dr. Michael Hurd, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, points out this data belongs to taxpayers — and it's incumbent on the federal government to maintain its integrity
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