This brutal flu season would only get worse with another shutdown
By Dr. Lyndon Haviland
December 12, 2025
TheHill.com
U.S. public health professionals are bracing for the possibility of yet another government shutdown looming next month. Should a closure happen again in the heart of winter — when communicable diseases travel like wildfire — the effect on America’s health would be potentially catastrophic.
Here’s why: The gathering and distribution of critical health information, which the U.S. government conducts on an ongoing basis, abruptly halted during the recent 43-day federal closure.
This created a massive blind spot for the public health community as it worked to keep Americans safe. It will be worse if the same thing happens during the height of respiratory illness transmission.