Trump US CDC nominee says she has not seen link between vaccines and autism

By Ahmed Aboulenein

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's nominee for Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Susan Monarez told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday that she has not seen evidence linking vaccines and autism.

If confirmed, Monarez will report to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long questioned the safety of vaccines contrary to scientific evidence, including suggesting a link between them and autism.

"I have not seen a causal link between vaccines and autism," Monarez told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions during her confirmation hearing in response to a question from Senator Bernie Sanders.

The hearing is taking place at the same time as a crucial meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that reviews data for the agency and recommends who should get them.

Kennedy fired the entire 17-member panel of outside vaccine experts, saying they had conflicts of interest without providing evidence of any such conflicts, and replaced them with eight of his own selections - about half of whom have advocated against some vaccines. One of the eight appointees left the committee hours before the meeting.

(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Additional reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)