Trump administration limits NIAID contact with WHO during virus outbreaks

The Trump administration has directed officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to stop direct communication with the World Health Organization, according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN. The directive bars NIAID staff from speaking directly with the WHO during virus outbreaks.

The prohibition has been in place during a hantavirus outbreak that exposed some Americans and was relaxed slightly last week for an Ebola outbreak centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Meeting restrictions A May 18 email from a senior NIAID official obtained by CNN states that small groups of no more than three experts may attend virtual WHO meetings in a listening capacity. Any follow-up questions or research ideas must be routed through the Department of Health and Human Services.

The same email said NIAID will operate for the Ebola outbreak in the same manner used for hantavirus. The restrictions limit quick cooperation with global counterparts, multiple current and former health officials told CNN.

Leadership vacancies Several senior health positions remain unfilled.

The surgeon general post has never been filled in this administration. The only confirmed CDC director served less than a month before departing last August. NIAID had been led by acting director Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger since April 2025, but two Democratic senators revealed last week that he had stepped down. HHS declined to comment on the departure.

Ebola outbreak response The CDC is deploying seven additional experts to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. One American doctor who contracted Ebola in Africa is being treated in a German hospital. Another American is under monitoring. US-bound flights from the Ebola-affected region must land at Dulles, George Bush Intercontinental, or Hartsfield-Jackson airports for health screening.

No Ebola cases have been identified in the United States. Eighteen passengers from a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship remain in quarantine in Nebraska. Dozens of other people who disembarked earlier are under monitoring.