HHS Slashes CDC Budget 53% as H5N1 Bird Flu Spreads Across State Lines

The Department of Health and Human Services announces a 53% cut to the CDC's core budget, eliminating programs for disease surveillance, outbreak response, and public health laboratory capacity. The cuts coincide with confirmed H5N1 avian influenza spread across multiple states, raising alarm among epidemiologists that the nation's early-warning and response infrastructure is being dismantled during an active zoonotic disease threat.