South Carolina State Rep. Rosalyn Henderson-Myers (D-Spartanburg) stands outside a mobile clinic offering free measles vaccinations on Friday in Spartanburg, S.C. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t issued a health alert related to the measles outbreak there.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
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Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Spartanburg, S.C. – The nation’s early warning system for public health threats is sounding increasingly faint. Since President Trump returned to office, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has dramatically scaled back the number of public health alerts issued to doctors and hospitals, leaving some experts deeply concerned about a potential blind spot in protecting Americans from emerging diseases.
Fewer Alerts, Growing Concerns
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The CDC issued just six alerts through its Health Alert Network (HAN) in 2025. While the number of alerts fluctuates annually, this represents a significant drop from previous years, when dozens were often issued. Experts say this decline leaves doctors, hospitals, and health departments less prepared to respond to outbreaks and emerging health risks.
“We’re absolutely flying blind,” says Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “We’re blind to a whole range of health risks that are entering our community or re-emerging in our community.”
What Do These Alerts Do?
HANs serve as critical communication tools, informing clinicians about urgent health threats and providing guidance on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. They also prompt hospitals to ensure adequate supplies and staffing, and alert health departments to monitor for unusual disease patterns. “They tell clinicians: Here’s what you need to think about as you’re screening patients, or diseases that you might not be expecting to see,” explains Lauren Sauer, associate director of the Global Center for Health Security at the University of Nebraska.
Past alerts have addressed a wide range of threats, including Ebola, bird flu, and the coronavirus pandemic, acting as an essential “early-warning system,” as Benjamin describes it.
A Pattern of Silence
The recent decrease in alerts isn’t isolated. The CDC didn’t issue a HAN regarding this season’s flu, even as a mutated strain drove what appears to be one of the worst flu seasons in recent years. Similarly, no alert was issued concerning the ongoing measles outbreak in South Carolina – one of the worst in decades – despite the risk of the U.S. losing its measles elimination status. Outbreaks of whooping cough also went without a HAN.
“The silence is deafening,” Benjamin says.
