U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is criticizing the decision to end federal monitoring of the parasite linked to the current Cyclospora outbreak.
In a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ossoff criticized the termination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network monitoring of Cyclospora cayetanensis, the parasite that causes cyclosporiasis.
According to Ossoff’s letter, more than 1,600 confirmed cases have been identified nationwide, more than 100 people have been hospitalized and thousands of additional cases are being investigated across 34 states, including Georgia.
In the letter, Ossoff wrote, “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. And now a cyclosporiasis outbreak sweeps the nation."
Ossoff also wrote that the Trump administration is “actively undermining food safety.”