The US government’s decision to close its premier hepatitis testing laboratory has left experts warning that the country will be unable to measure the scale of the problem with these diseases. The lab, which was axed as part of a 18% reduction in force at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was one of the few places where researchers could analyze viral hepatitis samples.
Hepatitis B and C are preventable and curable, but their spread is largely undetected due to lack of funding. Without data from the lab, public health officials will struggle to pinpoint sources of outbreaks and revise control policies. This closure will also hinder efforts to identify hotspots of transmission and respond to emerging epidemics.
The impact of this decision was highlighted by Chari Cohen, president of the Hepatitis B Foundation, who stated that without the lab, “we won’t have any idea of what the distribution of viral hepatitis is in the US.” The lab’s closure has raised concerns about the ability of public health officials to tackle the spread of these viruses.
The CDC’s decision to cut funding for the lab comes at a time when multiple outbreaks are occurring across the country, with two linked to medical facilities. Determining whether cases are connected requires analyzing genetic sequences from various samples, a task that commercial labs cannot perform.
While there is an effective vaccine available for hepatitis B, many infected individuals remain unaware of their condition, making prevention and treatment difficult. The loss of this lab’s data also threatens progress on developing a point-of-care test for hepatitis C, which has long been needed but currently only exists as a two-step process.
The closure of the US hepatitis testing laboratory highlights the need for sustained funding to support public health initiatives. Without it, the country will be left without key data to inform its response to this growing health crisis.
Source: https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/14/cdc-hepatitis-lab-closes-rif-outbreak-response