Cyclospora Boosts Fears That Deadlier Foodborne Outbreaks Are Ahead

Food safety leaders are warning that federal cuts have weakened the systems meant to catch foodborne outbreaks before they spread, and cyclospora is the latest example: it's sickened thousands across dozens of states, with Michigan alone reporting more than seven thousand cases. KFF Health News reports the Trump administration curtailed the CDC's FoodNet surveillance program, dropping mandatory tracking of listeria and campylobacter along with cyclospora. Listeria in particular alarms experts, since nearly ninety-five percent of those infected are hospitalized and it kills up to thirty percent of diagnosed cases. HHS disputes that the changes raise outbreak risk, but Michigan's chief medical executive put it bluntly: right now it's cyclospora, and eventually the system may lose the ability to detect whatever comes next.

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