Some federal health websites restored, others still down, after data purge

 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.

Some of the pages on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website that went offline last week have since reappeared.

The Atlas Tool, used by policymakers to track rates of infectious diseases such as HIV and STIs, disappeared but now is back. Pages that explained the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which monitors adolescent health, were gone but can now be seen again. And the CDC's data site, which was taken offline over the weekend, is back up with datasets available for download.





"Across the country, folks like me are trying to catalogue what is missing and what has changed in terms of what's back up," says Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician and dean of Yale University's School of Public Health.

Some of it is obvious, she says — broken links and pages that are no longer there. She's noticed how some pages have been scrubbed of certain words or categories of people. For example, pages on the CDC website that previously referred to "pregnant people" now refer to "pregnant women." But, she notes, researchers are systematically comparing archival data with the updated datasets that have been reposted online.

Meanwhile, other pages — including a tool that assesses social factors that make communities vulnerable in the event of a disaster — remain offline. In other cases, such as with the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, pages appear to be restored, but key links to results are dead.

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, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government and Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing. The Office of Personnel Management has provided initial guidance on both Executive Orders and HHS and divisions are acting accordingly to execute."

President Trump's executive orders on gender and diversity, equity and inclusion have prompted the purge that spanned many of the agencies overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The move swept up many resources on the CDC website, ranging from data on adolescent health and infectious disease to clinical guidelines on reproductive care and HIV.

Still, the agency's entire website carries a caveat: "CDC's website is being modified to comply with President Trump's Executive Orders."

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