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CDC (Surveillance of Cyclosporiasis)

U.S. federal public health agency

Owned byU.S. federal government; operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a component of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
FundingFederal congressional appropriations (taxpayer-funded); overall CDC discretionary funding fell from roughly $9.7 billion (FY 2025 request) to $4.2 billion (FY 2026 request) under the second Trump administration, with 444 CDC grants totaling $5.78 billion in unliquidated obligations terminated by May 2026
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

Cyclosporiasis became a nationally notifiable disease in the United States in January 1999, and the CDC has conducted national surveillance for it since that point, relying on reports from state and local health departments. Active surveillance was also conducted through FoodNet (the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network), a collaborative program established in July 1995 among the CDC, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the FDA, and 10 state health departments. The CDC's Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria (DPDM) was the primary organizational unit responsible for cyclosporiasis research and surveillance. In July 2025, under the second Trump administration, the CDC reduced the pathogens tracked by FoodNet from eight to two, making cyclosporiasis reporting optional rather than mandatory — ending roughly 28 years of systematic national tracking. The DPDM was subsequently dissolved as part of broader CDC reorganization and workforce cuts. By July 2026, a major cyclosporiasis outbreak had been reported across 31 states, with 843 domestically acquired cases recorded as of July 9, 2026 — raising public health concerns about the adequacy of the diminished surveillance infrastructure. The program's weakened state is widely attributed to the administration's budget reductions and agency restructuring rather than any editorial or political orientation in the surveillance data itself.

Sources

  1. Surveillance of Cyclosporiasis | CDC
  2. Cyclosporiasis Surveillance — United States, 2011–2015 (MMWR / PMC)
  3. About FoodNet | CDC
  4. FoodNet Timeline | CDC
  5. Trump's CDC Stopped Monitoring Explosive Diarrhea Parasite Before Outbreak — Newsweek
  6. CDC Investigates Surge of Parasitic Illness Across 18 States as Workforce Cuts Raise Response Concerns — Global Biodefense
  7. As cases of 'explosive' diarrhea parasite spike, CDC made some tracking of cyclospora optional last year — CBS8
  8. The CDC quietly scaled back a surveillance program for foodborne illnesses — NBC News
  9. FY 2026 CDC Budget Overview Factsheet

Profile compiled 2026-07-11; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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