The CDC has paused diagnostic testing for more than two dozen infectious diseases —including rabies and pox viruses — according to the agency’s website.HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told Healio that the pause is temporary while the CDC “evaluates these assays as part of our routine review to uphold our commitment to high-quality laboratory testing.

The pausing of lab testing comes in the wake of the dramatic downsizing of the CDC in the last year through layoffs, retirements, resignations and the nonrenewal of temporary appointments.