The instructions were delivered on Tuesday to staff at agencies inside the Department of Health and Human Services, including officials at the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health, the newspaper reported. The agencies had no immediate comment.

Trump took office on Monday.

The Washington Post said that it was not clear from the guidance given by the new administration whether the directive would affect more urgent communications, such as foodborne disease outbreaks, drug approvals and new bird flu cases.