WASHINGTON (TNND) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be joined by officials on Wednesday to discuss the latest Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The report states that autism prevalence in the U.S. has increased from 1 in 36 children to 1 in 31.

Kennedy announced Thursday that the HHS is on the verge of identifying the cause of autism, stating that "by September we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures."

He added that a massive testing and research effort is underway, involving hundreds of scientists globally.

In the past, Kennedy has been known to suggest a link between childhood vaccines and autism.

New research published in Nature Communications suggests a potential link between autism and gut health. The study found that children with autism have noticeably different gut bacteria compared to neurotypical children.

The study also noted that autistic children were more likely to have mothers who took antibiotics during pregnancy.