Trump Administration Linked To Growing Explosive Diarrhea Outbreak

“Have the funding cuts to public health impacted the current activities related to the Cyclospora outbreak? I think they have,” said one academic.
Trump Administration Linked To Growing Explosive Diarrhea Outbreak
Credit: Getty Images/CDC
By Ed Scarce — July 16, 2026

As we've noted previously, the Trump administration's lax standards when it comes to public health have made disease prevention and epidemic management much more difficult. In this instance, cases or suspected cases have gone from 1000 to over 7000 in the last week.

Elections do indeed have consequences.

Source: Forbes

Thousands of people across the United States have been infected with Cyclospora cayetanensis, a parasite that can cause prolonged diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea and fatigue. As health officials investigate the outbreak, questions are being raised as to whether government cuts to public health have hampered the investigation. The number of people affected is growing rapidly, with Michigan reporting more than 2,600 cases and illnesses reported across over 30 states. Yet investigators have not yet identified any sources of the contamination.

“The lack of information on possible sources for the outbreak is frustrating,” said Craig Hedberg, PhD, professor of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. “It is normal for public health and regulatory officials to be somewhat guarded with information about potential sources of contamination while the investigation is ongoing. This may be necessary to provide opportunities to trace possible sources of contamination."

The difficulty of the investigation has renewed debate over recent cuts to foodborne disease surveillance and public health funding by the current U.S. government on both the state and federal level.

At least one academic, Barbara Kowalcyk, an associate professor at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute of Public Health, and the director of the university’s Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security, thinks those cuts have exacerbated the problem. via The Guardian:

“Have the funding cuts to public health impacted the current activities related to the cyclospora outbreak? I think they have,” said Kowalcyk. “If you’re understaffed, you might be interviewing [patients] after six to eight weeks.”

In part, delays have been exacerbated by the Trump administration’s funding cuts, Kowalcyk said, citing both grant cuts to state and local health departments and changes to federal surveillance systems that make it harder to get “the whole picture”.

The Trump administration cut in March 2025 $11.4bn in grants to state and local health departments. Although those grants were earmarked for pandemic activities, Kowalcyk said they also built out local health department capacity. Michigan public health labs alone lost $5.5m, according to Bridge Michigan, a local news outlet.

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