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Did White House edit down report?

Infection Control Monitor, October 26, 2007

The White House on Wednesday denied that it severely cut congressional testimony given this week by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the impact climate change will have on public health, reported the Associated Press (AP).

Two sources told the AP that the White House "watered down" the original testimony, removing specific scientific references to potential health risks. Testimony presented by CDC Director Julie Gerberding, MD, was devoted to the CDC's preparation efforts, with few details on what effects climate change could have on the spread of disease, the AP reported. Gerberding Thursday told The New York Times that news reports had made "a mountain out of a molehill."

During Congressional testimony, Senator Barbara Boxer questioned Gerberding about a CDC chart that listed health problems that could result from temperature increases and rising sea levels. They include an increase in waterborne diseases including cholera and increases in vector-borne diseases including malaria and hantavirus. "These are the potential things you can expect," the AP quoted Gerberding. ". . . In some of these areas it's not a question of if, it's a question of who, what, how and when."

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