Trump officials exerting unprecedented control over CDC scientific journal

Trump administration political appointees have taken steps in recent weeks to exert unprecedented influence over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's flagship medical research publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, multiple federal health officials tell CBS News. The interference included dictating what to cover and withholding studies on the growing bird flu outbreak.

The Trump administration's moves to control the research published by the agency ends a decades-long streak of independence for the journal, known as the MMWR. 

Health officials and experts have long considered the MMWR as the "voice of CDC" and a respected source where federal scientists release research of public health importance. It ranks as among the most-cited health journals in the world.