As Federal Data Disappears, Local Health Officer Relies on State Resources

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“Health related federal programs have dropped off online,” said South Orange-Maplewood Health Officer Candice Davenport after giving an update on the H5N1 bird flu. “There has been no online access to any of us. … We’ve been relying on the state data and snapping images and screenshots.”

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South Orange-Maplewood Health Officer Candice Davenport is “coming to grips” with changes on the federal level that are impacting the local delivery of health information and services.

“We’ve been relying on the state data,” said Davenport, who had just completed an update to the Maplewood Board of Health at its Feb. 4 meeting. highlighting the local impact of national health emergencies such as H5N1 — otherwise known as the avian or bird flu.

“Our goal is always to provide the township with the most current, accurate and honest information as possible,” said Davenport in response to a question from Maplewood Township Committee and Board of Health member Victor DeLuca.

“Robert Kennedy is going to become the new Secretary of Health,” said DeLuca. “I think we have to take this seriously.” DeLuca said he was concerned that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services might put out contradictory information to accepted science. He asked Davenport, “How are you going to handle that? Are you going to rely more on the state as opposed to the federal?”

Davenport noted that information from federal resources such as the CDC website were already being paused or modified.

 

A Centers for Disease Control page on Feb. 5, 2025.

 

“Health related federal programs have dropped off online,” said Davenport. “There has been no online access to any of us. So for all of us who are doing research, for all of us who are preparing our presentations, we have no federal data. We’ve been relying on the state data and snapping images and screenshots.”

Davenport explained that the “state health department in particular has said that they will keep their services and their data as recent and current as possible. They’re doing everything that they can to preserve the data and still collect data on behalf of the state. But as for the federal government, [it is] still unknown as to what will come back when it comes back on live and when it will come back up.” Davenport said CDC data was promised to be returned earlier earlier this week  “and it didn’t.”

The Association of Health Care Journalists reported on Feb. 5, “While the CDC pages on the current bird flu outbreak still appear on the site, one of the most troubling effects of Trump’s order to halt outgoing federal health communications is that the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports have not been published for the past two weeks for the first time in the publication’s history. The report was first published on July 1, 1960.” AHCJ also reports that after “more than 1,000 pages on the CDC website had disappeared last Friday. In the days since, some pages have been restored, in varying degrees of their former completeness.”

Meanwhile, Davenport reported that “while there have been recent confirmations of deaths in localized wild bird populations in parts of New Jersey, there have been no recent reports in domestic poultry or cattle, and no human infections in this state.”

“Currently, there are no confirmed human cases in New Jersey, so I just want to make that clear,” said Davenport, providing the following resources:

“I also want to make mention that at the State Health Department lab is the one who tests for any novel flu virus. So if you want more information about the H5N1 and all of the things that we are doing at the state level, you can go to www.nj.gov/h5n1.

Davenport also provided the following directives for reducing risk of exposure to H5N1:

Davenport concluded, “If you have any other questions, you can call us at the Health Department. We’re happy to answer any questions. We’re monitoring the situation.”

Contact the South Orange-Maplewood Department of Health at (973) 762-8120. Find more contact and other health information at https://www.maplewoodnj.gov/government/public-health-social-services.

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