Salad, onions, and the fast-food chain Taco Bell were named among the likely causes of one of the largest diarrhea outbreaks in the United States. However, attention is now focused on Donald Trump and his administration’s policy, which reduced the tracking of foodborne illnesses. The outbreak was caused by cyclosporiasis — a parasitic disease transmitted through the consumption of contaminated food or beverages. It has spread to 32 states, infecting nearly 7,000 people, and further increases in the number of cases are expected.
Public health experts and Democrats argue that efforts to control the outbreak were complicated by massive cuts and layoffs carried out by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary of the Trump administration, as part of a campaign to increase government efficiency. Although a few cases are common in the summer months, “nothing similar in scale” has occurred, noted Dr. Omer Awan, a physician and senior public health expert for Forbes. Symptoms of the parasitic disease include uncontrolled diarrhea, weight loss, cramps, and fever. The most vulnerable are children, adults, and people with weakened immune systems. Although the disease is rarely life-threatening, it has already led to more than 140 hospitalizations.
Funding cuts and consequences
“We don’t know the source, so the disease continues to spread to so many people. Without the source, we don’t know how to contain it,” said Dr. Awan. The long incubation period of cyclosporiasis, during which symptoms may appear within two to fourteen days, complicates the search for the source. In July of last year, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) stopped tracking six of the eight foodborne pathogens, including cyclospora, due to funding cuts. In an internal memo to staff seen by NBC News, the funding cuts were directly cited as the reason for significant program reductions: “Funding did not match the resources needed to support the continuation of FoodNet surveillance for all eight pathogens.”
Senator Mark Warner, the senior Democrat from Virginia, stated: “Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reduced cyclospora monitoring amid sharp funding cuts — now thousands of Americans are experiencing the terrible consequences of this parasite.” “This administration’s attacks on public health make us less safe and less healthy,” he added in his statement.
Kalmia Kniel, a researcher in microbial food safety from the University of Delaware, stated: “FoodNet was critically important for identifying trends over time. Without FoodNet, there is no active surveillance across the U.S.”. Dr. Kniel noted that the Trump administration cannot be directly blamed for the spread of the outbreak, “but there are clear consequences of the lack of active surveillance.” Dr. Jill Roberts, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of South Florida, agreed, stating: “The cuts we saw last year led not only to the loss of the surveillance network but also to the loss of the people who knew the most about cyclospora. All laboratories are experiencing a shortage of funds and personnel.” Dr. Roberts added: “Across the federal workforce, we have seen cuts and layoffs without proper investigations into what the laid-off individuals were responsible for. Public health sectors have been particularly hard hit.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial policy
The tenure of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was highly controversial. He questioned the safety of vaccines against common diseases, cut tens of millions of dollars in vaccine research funding, made efforts to limit childhood immunization, and disbanded an entire government committee that issued official immunization recommendations. The scientific and medical community has repeatedly stated that Kennedy Jr.‘s policies lack sufficient scientific justification and have complicated the containment of disease outbreaks. Along with the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Kennedy Jr. laid off 10,000 people from medical institutions, including approximately 20 percent of CDC employees. He later admitted that some positions, particularly those of critically important researchers and scientists, were mistakenly cut, and he had to rehire nearly 1,000 employees.
Grace Davis, a spokesperson for HHS, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is closely collaborating with the CDC and partners at the state and local levels to investigate the outbreak. In her statement, she noted that FDA investigators were not affected by staffing changes or workforce reductions. “To be clear, cyclospora tracking never stopped. The CDC is actively working with health departments in all 50 states to collect data,” added Davis. The Telegraph notes that data is also collected through other surveillance systems besides FoodNet.
At the end of June, cyclosporiasis cases began to be recorded in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. According to the CDC, as of July 13, at least 31 cases have been registered in New York, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Texas. In Michigan, the epicenter of the outbreak, 3,700 cases have been confirmed, and more than 44 people have been hospitalized. Health officials in Michigan believe the cause is lettuce, although this has not been confirmed. However, they state that there could be multiple possible sources of infection. Onions, leafy greens, and cilantro are also being considered. Last week, Taco Bell restaurants in Detroit informed customers that the chain “is currently unable to sell lettuce, cilantro, onions, pico de gallo, and guacamole due to a nationwide recall.”
Dr. Kniel expected this to be the peak of the outbreak, but the number of cases will continue to rise until the end of the summer due to increased testing and reporting. “It is important to consider this as multiple clusters of cases across the U.S. What we have here is a combination of several separate outbreaks,” she said. A representative of Taco Bell Corp stated that health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant, or retailer. However, while authorities conduct the investigation, the company “voluntarily and temporarily removed a limited number of ingredients in selected restaurants as a precautionary measure.”
