Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces a major test as a cyclospora outbreak sickens thousands across the United States. Michigan alone reports at least 7,000 cases of the foodborne illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists nearly 4,200 total cases, a figure that lags state tallies.
Kennedy took the helm of HHS last year, promising to overhaul the U.S. food system. His stated goal included restoring public confidence in the agencies that oversee food safety. The current outbreak challenges that agenda.
The Trump administration significantly reduced federal employees focused on food safety. The cuts affected staff who investigate illness sources and those who handle public information. Experts say the reductions complicate the response.
Craig Hedberg, co-director of the Minnesota Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence, said federal funding cuts have reduced the nation's capacity to respond to outbreaks. He said it is difficult to quantify precisely, but the impact is clear.
Kennedy earlier this week defended his agency's handling of the outbreak. He said criticisms about cuts hampering the investigation are invalid and that the outbreak is under control.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the CDC initially focused their investigation on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms. The FDA announced over the weekend that lettuce from the produce supplier tested positive for cyclospora. The agency later retracted the finding, saying it was a false positive.
Donald Schaffner, chair of food science at Rutgers University, called the FDA's reversal a "pretty big screw up." He said he had never witnessed such a retraction. The reversal created confusion about the investigation.
A former senior FDA food official said the agency was right to publicize the initial positive test. Delaying the announcement could have caused more illness if the result had been accurate. Despite the retraction, agencies still consider the Taylor Farms lettuce a likely culprit.
HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said the FDA maintained transparency with Taylor Farms throughout the investigation. She said the corrected lab result does not change the agency's underlying findings.
Former federal health officials and independent food safety experts say the cyclospora response reflects a system that has been underfunded and overstrained for years, leaving the United States vulnerable to such outbreaks. Budget cuts, policy delays and personnel turnover, they say, worsen the situation.
Hilliard said regulators have mounted a "robust, science-based response." She said the FDA and CDC are working closely with health departments in all 50 states, identifying known sources and ensuring public access to information.
Tracking cyclospora presents unique challenges. Schaffner said the parasite does not grow outside the human body, making testing and case linkage difficult. Cyclospora tests are also prone to false positives, where the testing process can mimic the presence of a parasite.
Some experts say the Trump administration's funding cuts make an already difficult task even harder.
