NEJM and CIDRAP Announce New Public Health Alerts

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) plan to publish public health alerts to fill gaps in the federal government’s public health communications, STAT News reported this week.

CIDRAP Director Michael Osterholm announced the partnership Sunday at IDWeek, stating that the alerts are intended to convey information traditionally shared through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) flagship Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). CDC has published MMWR since 1952, but the publication — where details of new outbreaks and emerging diseases are often first shared — has faced disruptions due to the Trump administration’s February communications pause and the ongoing government shutdown.

NEJM will publish the new alerts as needed in a section of its NEJM Evidence journal, which will be freely accessible and focused on timely data about disease outbreaks and other public health issues.