About Donald Trump‘s push to “Make America Healthy Again?” Yeah, perhaps the president shouldn’t have had a program stop monitoring the nasty parasite currently causing an explosive diarrhea outbreak across the United States if that was his goal!
For the past three decades, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, also known as FoodNet, surveyed eight pathogens that cause food-related infections, including Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia. The program collaborates with the Centers for Disease Control, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and 10 state health departments — including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee.
Related: Pima County Sheriff WARNS About New Scam Connected To Nancy Guthrie Investigation!
But by July 2025, the Trump administration scaled back that program. The CDC reported that monitoring for all those pathogens became “optional,” except for Salmonella and STEC. Why this sudden change? NBC viewed and reported on a list of talking points the agency provided to the Connecticut Public Health Department last year, which cited the reason for the extreme cutback as:
“Funding has not kept pace with the resources required to maintain the continuation of FoodNet surveillance for all eight pathogens.”
Remember Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s whole move to defund several federal health and science agencies under the guise of “government efficiency” amid their “Make America Healthy Again” movement? It appears FoodNet, unfortunately, was one of the victims of their big plan! And rather than the program tracking these pathogens, they wanted the states to do it instead! A CDC spokesperson also said state health departments can report cases through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System instead. The CDC’s Listeria Initiative also collects reports of laboratory-confirmed cases of listeriosis.
However, FoodNet had been the only surveillance system in place for years that actively watched several foodborne diseases at the federal level, and scaling back operations greatly concerned experts. They were especially worried about whether officials would be able to quickly identify and respond to outbreaks. We’re now potentially seeing the effects of this drastic cut…
A year later, the United States is dealing with an outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis, also known as Cyclosporiasis. There are currently 843 people across 31 states infected with the illness, which causes nausea, vomiting, and intense explosive diarrhea. But that number could be way bigger, the CDC reported! Officials from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services suspect lettuce or salad greens are the culprit behind the outbreak — though they have not figured out the exact product, grower, or supplier. They also haven’t entirely ruled out other fruits and vegetables yet. So, we still don’t have definitive answers! And we possibly could’ve had some by now if FoodNet had been operating as normal and tracking Cyclosporiasis! Who knows!
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN, Universal Pictures/YouTube]