Source: @washingtonpost – “Nearly half a dozen senior veterinarians at the Food and Drug Administration were laid off in a sweeping purge, including employees in a center that has played a key role in responding to the recent bird flu outbreak.
The job cuts were part of massive upheaval at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services this week, as senior leaders across various agencies learned they were being placed on administrative leave or offered reassignment and thousands of other employees lost their jobs
Some of the veterinarians laid off helped design studies last year showing pasteurization kills the virus in milk found on store shelves. The cuts also impacted staffers focused on communicating directly with the public, such as detailing how Americans can protect their pets from the virus.
These details come from three FDA staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
“Word has to get to people,” one staffer said. “If things happen behind the walls of government, and we’re not sharing it with the public then all the work that we do is not getting out so that people can take the steps they need to to protect themselves.”
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