Cyclospora: Could Deadlier Foodborne Illnesses Follow?

At this point, you’re probably well aware of the cyclospora outbreak that has infected thousands of people across the United States. There is growing concern among food safety experts that deadlier foodborne outbreaks could be on the horizon given changes within the federal government. 

CBS News reports that under the Trump administration, food safety protocols have been greatly overhauled and not necessarily for the best. Historically, food safety has been monitored through a coalition of state and federal agencies, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s FoodNet program being the centerpiece. FoodNet was created in the ‘90s after four children died from consuming hamburgers infected with E.coli.

So of course one of the first things the Trump administration did was make sweeping cuts to the program. In addition to cutting billions of dollars in public health funding, the Trump administration also fired thousands of public health workers and ended mandatory reporting for several foodborne viruses, including cyclospora. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has defended those cuts and said the administration only ended redundant screenings. I just think it’s kind of interesting that we’re dealing with a cyclospora outbreak only a year after the cuts were made. I’m no pathologist, but it’s not hard to put two and two together. 

From CBS News:

Under the changes to the FoodNet surveillance system, the 10 participating states — meant to represent a cross-section of the broader population — no longer have to report cases of listeria, for example. That bacteria kills as many as 30% of people who are diagnosed with it.

Complications from listeria infections can include convulsions, miscarriage, and sepsis that damages organs. It’s much more rare than the type of E. coli bacteria still required to be tracked by FoodNet, but almost 95% of people infected with listeria wind up hospitalized. Listeria infections result in an estimated 170 to 260 deaths each year, according to numbers from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration.

“You’re basically allowing for outbreaks to continue without being figured out. Invariably more people will get sick,” said Bill Marler, a Seattle-area food safety lawyer, told CBS News. 

“We are starting to see the consequences of an underfunded public health system in 2026,” Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive, told CBS News. “Currently it’s cyclospora. Eventually, we are going to lose the ability to detect something else.” Michigan is going through it right now, dealing with thousands of cyclospora cases in addition to the ongoing measles outbreak. 

Oh, and now we’re also dealing with millions of eggs being recalled due to salmonella contamination. It’s almost like we had a robust food safety network for a reason. It’s bad enough that the cost of groceries has increased significantly; now we have to be concerned over whether our food is even safe to consume. 

Corporations care about one thing and one thing only: shareholder value. If they can cut costs through bypassing food safety screenings, they will. They don’t care what happens to you after you consume their product; they just care that you bought it. Regulations exist for a reason, and unfortunately, we’re finding out why in real time. 

A spokesperson for HHS defended the changes at the FDA and tried to downplay the impact of the staffing cuts. 

“FDA investigators were not affected by staffing changes or force reductions, and the FY 2027 President’s Budget proposes a $33 million increase for food safety activities,” HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard told CBS News in an email. Hilliard added that the CDC never stopped monitoring illnesses caused by Cyclospora. 

Note how she didn’t say that the CDC never stopped monitoring the parasite itself. 

Between cutting funding, staff, and pricing out working-class people from health insurance, it’s almost like the Trump administration is trying to see how much of a body count it can rack up over four years. Crazy how the self-proclaimed “pro-life” seems hell-bent on killing everyone. 

SEE ALSO:

FDA Says Taylor Farms Lettuce Was A False Positive For Cyclospora

Everything You Need To Know About The Cyclospora Outbreak

RFK Jr. Says Cyclospora Outbreak Is ‘Under Control’ Lol, Sure Dog

Taylor Farms Supplied The Lettuce Taco Bell Is Getting Blamed For