CDC, FDA, NIH are among agencies shedding thousands of workers. Some senior leaders and entire divisions are being cut.

Thousands of people responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research, monitoring the safety of food and medicine, and administering health insurance programs for nearly half of the country were laid off Tuesday at the nation's top health agencies.

Some employees at US health agencies have started receiving notice that their jobs are being cut. “This [reduction in force] action does not reflect directly on your service, performance or conduct,” according to one email to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff member that was obtained by CNN.

The Trump administration began mass layoffs of 10,000 staffers at U.S. health agencies on Tuesday, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation, with security guards barring entry to some employees just hours after they received dismissal notices.

Switzer Memorial Building in Washington on Tuesday.Credit...Roberto Schmidt/Agence France-Presse — Health job cuts: The Trump administration laid off thousands of federal health workers, dismissing senior leaders and top scientists in a purge that outside experts and former officials said would cause an immeasurable loss of expertise.

Another round of “deferred resignation” offers is part of the Trump administration’s stepped-up effort to rapidly downsize the government.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced last week that 10,000 employees would be let go, and about a third are expected to be cut from the agency overseeing food and drug safety. Tuesday's layoffs included several top officials within HHS,

The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will on April 10 hold a hearing on the reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services, its chairman Senator Bill Cassidy said in a statement.

The Texas health department reported 422 cases of measles in the state on Tuesday, an increase from 400 in its previous count on March 28. Separately, New Mexico reported four additional measles cases from its report on March 28,

While health care practitioners and facilities are required to report cases of measles to the Pennsylvania Department of Health or “the appropriate local health authority” — which includes local health departments, where they exist — within 24 hours, the state Department of Health does not always make cases public.