WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding answers about the nationwide Cyclospora outbreak—warning that HHS's rollback of foodborne disease surveillance and reduced coordination with state and local health departments have undermined the nation’s ability to quickly detect and respond to multistate outbreaks.
In the letter, Stanton questions a July 2025 HHS decision which cut FoodNet’s required surveillance list of pathogens from eight down to just two, making active surveillance for Cyclospora optional. FoodNet, established in 1995, is a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and state health departments that actively identifies foodborne illnesses by coordinating with hundreds of laboratories nationwide.
"Families deserve to know that the food they're buying is safe to consume," Stanton said. "But instead, thousands of people are becoming sick while the administration undoes key public health systems that detect outbreaks and identify contaminated food."
While HHS has defended the changes to FoodNet stating that it eliminates duplicative work, it fails to identify which surveillance systems replaced FoodNet's active Cyclospora monitoring or demonstrate that they provide the same level of timely, coordinated federal-state monitoring.
The letter also notes other actions that have reduced public health capacity, including the termination of $11.4 billion in grants supporting state and local health departments and the dismantling of the CDC's Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, which housed federal expertise on Cyclospora and other parasitic diseases.
According to the CDC, there are more than 7,000 cases in at least 34 states, with over 140 confirmed hospitalizations as of May 1, 2026. Stanton’s letter requests answers by August 3, 2026, including:
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Who directed the decision to reduce FoodNet's required surveillance, and what scientific or budget analysis supported it;
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What funding has been reduced or redirected from FoodNet and related foodborne disease programs since January 2025;
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How many employees working on foodborne disease and parasitic disease surveillance have been terminated, reassigned, or left vacant;
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Which surveillance systems now perform the active laboratory outreach previously conducted through FoodNet;
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How many personnel are currently assigned to the federal Cyclospora outbreak response;
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What evidence supports HHS's claim that these changes have not affected the current outbreak investigation.
The full letter is available HERE.