April 7, 2025: Stop of all SEARCH activities, due to termination of funding
Because of recent terminations to The Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Program and other federal programs, our work with SEARCH has had to stop effective immediately, due to a lack of funds. This is part of larger cuts of ~$40 million affecting all of public health here in San Diego County – read recent article in the San Diego Union Tribune.
This means that we will no longer be able to provide updates to our wastewater and genomic surveillance programs, effective immediately.
For us, this is devastating, especially as many infectious diseases are likely to see a comeback, due to vaccination hesitancy resulting in lower vaccination rates. Over the past few years, we have built up new capabilities, in addition to our COVID-19 focused work, and was hoping to roll out broader infectious disease surveillance programs together with our partners at the county, including for flu, hepatitis, measles, mpox, and more. Due to a lack of funding, all of that work will unfortunately not be able to move forward, unless we obtain alternative funding.
If you are a local philanthropist and would be interested in sustaining SEARCH and ensure continued infectious disease surveillance, please reach out to us directly, at [email protected].
