SerpApi.Org
Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff has drawn a direct link between the “explosive diarrhea” outbreak caused by the proliferation of Cyclospora to America’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In a letter to Kennedy sent on July 16, the 39-year-old rising Democratic star eviscerated Kennedy’s slashing of key CDC programs that were in place to keep Americans safe from outbreaks just like the current one that has Americans afraid of salads and Taco Bell.
“Last year, you terminated the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) required surveillance of Cyclospora cayetanensis, the parasite responsible for cyclosporiasis,” Ossoff wrote. “And now a cyclosporiasis outbreak sweeps the nation. Your foolish and self-indulgent demolition of critical public health programs puts Americans at risk.”
“The Trump administration is actively undermining food safety,” continued the Georgia senator. “Americans are suffering from severe diarrhea and painful complications.”
He then demanded that Kennedy answer if the CDC has restored tracking Cyclospora and asked that he give an update on the “epidemiological and food safety investigations to determine the source and scope of the outbreak.”
America is currently deep in the throes of a cyclosporiasis outbreak. The parasite can cause explosive, watery diarrhea and stomach pain. The illness typically affects around 250 people a year, but under Kennedy, there have been over 7,000 reported and suspected cases since May 1.
Health officials have linked the outbreak to lettuce from Taylor Farms — but after the company’s CEO visited Donald Trump, the FDA announced that they found a “false positive” when testing Taylor Farms lettuce and apologized to the company, leading to suspicion that a deal was made between Taylor Farms and the Trump administration.
As HHS Secretary, the 72-year-old Kennedy has made massive cuts to FoodNet, which tracks food contamination like salmonella and E. coli. Last August, supposed cost-cutting measures by Kennedy and Elon Musk‘s DOGE forced FoodNet to drop its tracking of Cyclospora and three other foodborne illnesses.
Ossoff joins a chorus of politicians and health officials who believe all that supposed waste cutting has led to a surge in American waste production.
“An incredibly important prevention method is to get those surveillance systems back up and running,” Jill Roberts, a professor of environmental health biology in the University of South Florida College of Public Health, told WUSF as the outbreak spread. “When we were able to detect these things fast, we can keep them out of the food systems.”
As of July 21, Kennedy has not responded to Ossoff’s letter.
