Cyclospora outbreak tests US food safety capacity after federal cuts
HHS says the response is robust, while experts point to staffing, funding and traceability gaps as cases rise across several states.
By Sarah Jenkins · Chief Macro Economics Correspondent
· 4 min read
A multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak has sickened thousands of people and placed new scrutiny on the federal food safety system overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has logged more than 4,000 laboratory-confirmed cases and is aware of more than 7,400 additional unconfirmed cases, many in Michigan and Ohio.
Kennedy, who has pledged to remake the US food system and rebuild confidence in the CDC, said this week that the outbreak is “under control” and rejected criticism that agency cuts have slowed the investigation. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard told CNBC that the FDA and CDC have mounted a “robust, science-based response” with state health departments and are using available public health tools to identify sources and inform action.
The outbreak has focused attention on shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms. The Food and Drug Administration said over the weekend that lettuce from the company had tested positive for cyclospora, then later said the result was a false positive. Hilliard said the corrected laboratory result does not change the FDA’s findings and that the agency has been transparent with Taylor Farms during the investigation.
Food safety specialists said the reversal complicated public messaging. Donald Schaffner, chair of food science at Rutgers University, told CNBC he had not seen such a reversal before. A former senior FDA food official said the agency was right to disclose the initial result because a delay, if the result had been confirmed, could have exposed more consumers to risk.
Why cyclospora is difficult to trace
Cyclospora is a parasite that causes cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness associated with severe diarrhea. Experts cited by CNBC said it is harder to track than some other foodborne pathogens because parasites do not grow outside the human body, complicating efforts to test samples and connect cases. Schaffner said cyclospora testing can also generate false positives because the testing process may make a sample appear to contain the parasite when it does not.
Several former officials and food safety experts said the response reflects a system that was under strain before the latest outbreak. Craig Hedberg, co-director of the Minnesota Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence, said federal funding cuts over the past year have reduced the capacity to respond to outbreaks like this one.
Dr. Daniel Jernigan, former director of the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, pointed to the CDC’s Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria losing $40 million in US Agency for International Development funds after the Trump administration dismantled the agency. Jernigan estimated the group has lost about one-quarter of its staff. Hilliard said those funds supported international activities and were not used for the CDC’s domestic foodborne disease response.
The CDC’s food safety budget is $74 million this fiscal year, up $2 million from last year, according to the agency’s operating plan. An analysis from George Washington University’s Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security found that CDC food safety funding has not had a meaningful increase since 2014. Kennedy said cuts to the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet, affected “redundant surveillance.”
At the FDA, the food center’s $1.17 billion budget accounts for about 17% of the agency’s roughly $7 billion in total program-level spending. A former senior FDA official told CNBC that foodborne outbreak personnel were spared broad layoffs, while the main press office was reduced, limiting outbreak communications expertise.
States report pressure
State and local agencies are also handling reduced federal support. A May Congressional Research Service analysis found the Trump administration terminated $5.78 billion in CDC grants to states. Sarah Sorscher of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said states use such grants to pay epidemiologists and other outbreak specialists.
Kentucky’s public health department said the team that conducts foodborne illness case interviews has seen staffing fall 30% to 50% because of lower federal grant funding. Ohio’s health department said it requested CDC assistance for the cyclospora investigation and would host several Epidemic Intelligence Service officers this week.
The FDA on Wednesday also reported a separate outbreak affecting dozens of people tied to an unidentified product, adding another investigation for federal and state health agencies.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
