The US withdrawal will not officially happen until January 2026, so there will be months of uncertainty over budgets and strategic direction at the near-80-year-old agency. Set up by the United Nations, the organization’s goals include expanding universal health coverage and coordinating the world’s response to health emergencies.

The United States has not moved to quit the Americas branch of the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), despite its wider pullback from global health. President Donald Trump started the 12-month withdrawal process for the U.

The interim guidance document was shared with staff Thursday in the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, or NCIRD, and specifically its Influenza Division — but it was worded broadly, referring to CDC staff in general in its body text. It’s not clear how many other CDC divisions received the memo.

The United States is abandoning its traditional role as the anchor of the liberal world order — a set of norms, rules, customs and international institutions designed to maintain global stability and foster peaceful interchange between states.

The Utah senator, along with other Republican lawmakers, introduced legislation calling for a ‘complete withdrawal’ from the international organization.

The approximately $600 million of the department’s budget that comes from federal funds has not been cut yet, but the concern keeps interim Commissioner Michelle Morse up at night.