Layoffs Hit CDC Cruise Ship Inspectors — Here’s How That Could Impact Your Vacation

There’s been a lot of cruising news lately, including multiple norovirus outbreaks, but now employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are being laid off.

According to CBS News, full-time employees of the Vessel Sanitation Program were laid off, which limited the CDC’s ability to investigate outbreaks and conduct inspections of cruise ships.

All of this department’s full-time employees are now gone, and 12 U.S. Public Health Service officers remain.

This program is paid for by cruise ship companies, not by taxpayer dollars, and is supposed to inspect cruise ships at least twice a year.

Employees were let go in the middle of responding to two outbreaks, including the epidemiologist in charge of leading the agency’s outbreak response on cruise ships.

According to CBS News, the Department of Health and Human Services says the cruise ship work will continue “since many commissioned officers from the U.S. Public Health Service in the program were not affected by the layoffs. ”

This program was already short-staffed, and with the additional full-time employees being laid off, the department is becoming very small. One official said, “Only one epidemiologist remains in the program’s team to investigate outbreaks and was still in the early stage of their training.”

The inspectors checked on cruise ships to ensure the correct maintenance of medical centers, water systems, and food safety. “For many ships, the CDC effectively serves as the only health department regulating these areas.”

We’re not sure what the future plans are for cruise ships to maintain safety standards, but we’ll bring any updates here to AllEars.

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