Local health officials say they are concerned after the United States withdrew its membership from the World Health Organization.

Local health officials say they are concerned after the United States withdrew its membership from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Northern Nevada Public Health (NNPH) says most of the impacts will be in the long term rather than the short term.

"As a local public health agency, we don't interact with the W.H.O. on a day-to-day basis, but we're part of this interconnected public health network," said Nancy Diao, Division Director for Population Health, NNPH. 

Last week, the U.S. officially removed itself after President Donald Trump signed an executive order initiating the process within his first few weeks in office.

The White House said one of the reasons why was due to the organization's alleged failure in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diao fears that if we find ourselves at the hands of something similar, we may face more challenges.

"If the next pandemic does happen, I fully expect for us to see possibly a delay in information, but when there is a pandemic, that small delay could mean a lot in our response," she said.

The White House also criticized the W.H.O's lack of reforms coming out of COVID.

NNPH says there will be gaps in global surveillance and tracking influenza.

"If we're not at the table when we're talking about influenza surveillance, looking at how the virus is mutating, and if there's a delay in that, our response is going to be delayed," Diao said.

The health agency says the country relies on data from the southern hemisphere to make its vaccines every year.

There are also concerns with losing funds for HIV medications, which could see case increases.

Diao also expects trends in diseases to go in the opposite direction.

"I would fully expect to see an increase in emerging and reemerging diseases in upcoming years," she said. "And, there's going to be an increased burden on our response as a public health agency and control."

So far, California is the only state to join the WHO-coordinated international network.

2 News Nevada reached out to Governor Joe Lombardo's Office for a comment and to see if Nevada would follow suit.

His office responded by telling us, "No comment here."