Max Kozlov

and which communities it was infecting, we knew quite quickly that it was really the population of men who have sex with men who are at higher risk, and especially those who are HIV positive. And so because of that knowledge, we were able to redirect resources, vaccines, treatments, education materials to those communities.

and which communities it was infecting, we knew quite quickly that it was really the population of men who have sex with men who are at higher risk, and especially those who are HIV positive. And so because of that knowledge, we were able to redirect resources, vaccines, treatments, education materials to those communities.

And if you look, you can look up a chart of the infections in the United States of monkeypox in 2022, and you'll see there's this big curve up and then almost immediately a steep decline down. And with this data getting fragmented and deleted now, it's basically shooting ourselves in the foot for being able to stop future outbreaks is what I'm hearing from public health officials and researchers.

And if you look, you can look up a chart of the infections in the United States of monkeypox in 2022, and you'll see there's this big curve up and then almost immediately a steep decline down. And with this data getting fragmented and deleted now, it's basically shooting ourselves in the foot for being able to stop future outbreaks is what I'm hearing from public health officials and researchers.

So my colleagues at Nature have reported that there are scientists who are banding together online to try to download entire websites, try to download these data sets before they go down. And in some cases, trying to access archived versions of the websites so they can actually save the databases.

So my colleagues at Nature have reported that there are scientists who are banding together online to try to download entire websites, try to download these data sets before they go down. And in some cases, trying to access archived versions of the websites so they can actually save the databases.

They have like terabytes and terabytes of data because these are such an important and incredibly useful resource for epidemiologists who monitor things like weekly flu infections to see if there is an uptick in cases or monitoring the latest with what's happening with H5N1 right now to make sure that that doesn't become a full-blown pandemic.

They have like terabytes and terabytes of data because these are such an important and incredibly useful resource for epidemiologists who monitor things like weekly flu infections to see if there is an uptick in cases or monitoring the latest with what's happening with H5N1 right now to make sure that that doesn't become a full-blown pandemic.

Right. Yes, exactly. And even in some cases, I mean, entire anything with the word race or ethnicity and in a way that a lot of researchers say this is actually extremely inefficient.

Right. Yes, exactly. And even in some cases, I mean, entire anything with the word race or ethnicity and in a way that a lot of researchers say this is actually extremely inefficient.

And it's a huge waste of resources for, you know, all these federal employees to be spending time just, you know, combing through website by website, data set by data set to see if it matches any of the keywords that the administration is looking for.

And it's a huge waste of resources for, you know, all these federal employees to be spending time just, you know, combing through website by website, data set by data set to see if it matches any of the keywords that the administration is looking for.

Yeah, I mean, the CDC is a federal agency and it has to listen to federal directives. So that's why you're seeing what you're seeing right now. And I don't think that the researchers at CDC are thrilled with this for the most part. I think a lot of this has been very demoralizing

Yeah, I mean, the CDC is a federal agency and it has to listen to federal directives. So that's why you're seeing what you're seeing right now. And I don't think that the researchers at CDC are thrilled with this for the most part. I think a lot of this has been very demoralizing

for researchers there who have spent years getting the funding to do this research, to do the research itself, to write up the paper and then to be told in the final moments as the paper will be live in mere weeks that they can't publish it because it might use one of these words. I think that's extremely demoralizing.

for researchers there who have spent years getting the funding to do this research, to do the research itself, to write up the paper and then to be told in the final moments as the paper will be live in mere weeks that they can't publish it because it might use one of these words. I think that's extremely demoralizing.

You know, I think there's a really a culture of fear that if they don't listen to these directives, they will be fired. And I think it's a difficult decision because so many people at CDC understand how important their jobs are, how many lives of Americans and people around the world depend on what they do.

You know, I think there's a really a culture of fear that if they don't listen to these directives, they will be fired. And I think it's a difficult decision because so many people at CDC understand how important their jobs are, how many lives of Americans and people around the world depend on what they do.

So it's a tough gamble because if you decide to disobey, not only is your paper still might still might not be published, but then you also might be out of a job.

So it's a tough gamble because if you decide to disobey, not only is your paper still might still might not be published, but then you also might be out of a job.