Two weeks into the Trump administration, external communication from federal health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the nation and world has gone dark.

In the latest information flow restriction, public health data and guidance on several CDC websites have disappeared.

Seeing this massive communication shift, we must ask if the limits, even short-term, endanger American lives. Active, serious public health risks are here now.

Highly pathogenic avian flu caused by the H5N1 virus is of foremost concern and has the potential to cause serious illness. H5N1 is found in every state and the number of human cases in the U.S., although low, is rising. Yet communication and guidance from the CDC about highly pathogenic avian flu is now arrested.

This virus has found its way into commercial dairy and poultry farms. It is also found in backyard birds and is the source of infection for a recent death in Louisiana. Fortunately, no human-to-human transmission has been seen, which, if it occurs, will lead to serious community spread.

Infectious disease surveillance requires global and national collaboration. Yet, the CDC can no longer communicate with longstanding partners, including the World Health Organization.

The CDC cannot even communicate with America. Over the last year, the CDC held briefings about H5N1 and posted real-time surveillance data. Yet, federal guidance for the public has stopped. Control now falls to states, with varied public health capacities. The fate of the recently allocated $306........

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