The United States has lost its ability to detect drug-resistant gonorrhea due to the closure of a federal lab that tracked rising S.TIs, including gonorrhea. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fired 77 scientists who worked on analyzing samples, detecting genetic signs of resistance, and preparing them for storage at a secure facility.
The abrupt halt has left about 1,000 unprocessed gonorrhea samples and dozens more on their way to the agency without experts or software to continue this work. There are now as many as 30 freezers full of samples with no custodians, according to a senior CDC official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Gonorrhea has become resistant to nearly every available antibiotic, leaving only one class that can still treat it. The most powerful defense combines ceftriaxone and azithromycin, but evidence suggests the bacteria may be evolving to evade even this treatment. Over 25 years, the CDC lab archived around 50,000 gonorrhea samples, allowing scientists to track how the pathogen has changed over time.
The closure of the lab has significant implications for public health, with nearly 4,000 babies born with congenital syphilis in 2023 and over 600,000 new gonorrhea cases diagnosed. Researchers are worried that widespread use of doxycycline may increase resistance to tetracyclines, a class of antibiotics.
The loss of expertise and infrastructure is a significant blow to the nation’s ability to combat resurgent syphilis and chlamydia. Cities like San Francisco and Seattle have seen drastic drops in these infections after recommending doxy-PEP, but researchers are concerned that this may be offset by increased resistance.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/health/cdc-sti-lab-gonorrhea.html