Re: Foodborne Illness rising in USA - Protection dismantled.

On 8/8/2026 5:26 PM, Dude wrote:
> On 8/7/2026 12:57 PM, Wilson wrote:
>> On 8/7/2026 1:21 PM, Dude wrote:
>>> On 8/7/2026 7:27 AM, Tara wrote:
>>>>   RFK Jr. promised to make America healthy again. Instead, he’s 
>>>> given America
>>>> explosive diarrhea
>>>> Aug. 7, 2026
>>>>
>>>>   EPA promised a Make America Healthy Again agenda. It has yet to 
>>>> materialize,
>>>> frustrating activists
>>>> FoodNet is one of those programs you never hear about until 
>>>> something goes
>>>> terribly wrong.
>>>>
>>>> Things in the United States have, in more ways than one, gone 
>>>> terribly wrong.
>>>> This time, it’s an outbreak of Cyclospora, a parasite that causes 
>>>> bouts of
>>>> explosive diarrhea — the kind of parasite FoodNet was set up to 
>>>> surveil and
>>>> prevent.
>>>>
>>>> But the program has been a victim of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 
>>>> war on
>>>> health. And now America is suffering under a massive outbreak of
>>>> cyclosporiasis.
>>>>
>>>> This catastrophe provides yet another good reason to boycott 
>>>> American goods.
>>>>
>>>> FoodNet, a backronym for the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance 
>>>> Network,
>>>> was launched by the U.S. government in 1995. It was founded as a 
>>>> “sentinel
>>>> surveillance” program, monitoring local hospitals and clinics for early
>>>> evidence of outbreaks of eight notorious bacteria and parasites, 
>>>> including
>>>> Cyclospora.
>>>>
>>>> The program has been played an unsung part in keeping the American 
>>>> food system
>>>> safe. FoodNet was credited with helping the U.S. respond rapidly to 
>>>> a massive
>>>> listeria outbreak in 2011. Within days of people falling ill, the 
>>>> Centers for
>>>> Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had identified the source — 
>>>> cantaloupe
>>>> from a Colorado farm — and ordered a recall. While the outbreak 
>>>> proved the
>>>> deadliest in American history, it was contained in about two weeks.
>>>>
>>>> FoodNet, government scientists say, is a “critical” piece of the 
>>>> system that
>>>> responds to such outbreaks.
>>>>
>>>> The threat of foodborne illness is rising: the U.S. was already 
>>>> seeing about
>>>> 1,000 cases of cyclosporiasis per year, requiring constant efforts 
>>>> to track
>>>> down and contain the source. Public-health officials have recommended
>>>> expanding FoodNet to meet that threat.
>>>>
>>>> Then came Trump and his paranoid quack of a health secretary, Robert F.
>>>> Kennedy Jr. Last year, the CDC announced FoodNet would no longer 
>>>> actively
>>>> surveil cyclosporiasis and five other illnesses, citing budget cuts.
>>>>
>>>> Then, in May, hundreds of cyclosporiasis cases began popping up 
>>>> across the
>>>> U.S. Kennedy took a break from his endless rotation of podcast 
>>>> appearances to
>>>> declare the outbreak “under control.” He said it had been traced 
>>>> back to a
>>>> Mexican lettuce producer and insisted his cuts hadn’t harmed the 
>>>> government’s
>>>> ability to respond. FoodNet, he said, was “redundant surveillance.”
>>>>
>>>> But the outbreak wasn’t under control. As of early August, there 
>>>> have been
>>>> more than 20,000 suspected and confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis, 
>>>> and two
>>>> deaths. The test that had identified the alleged source of the 
>>>> outbreak had
>>>> produced a false positive, officials say. It’s possible that this 
>>>> current
>>>> outbreak — now in its third month, and likely to get worse — is, in 
>>>> fact,
>>>> multiple outbreaks from multiple sources of contaminated 
>>>> produce.FoodNet could
>>>> not have prevented the spread of Cyclospora on its own, but it could 
>>>> have
>>>> helped the government respond. That it was downsized is another 
>>>> illustration
>>>> of how a once-great system has been attacked and dismantled by 
>>>> Kennedy, a
>>>> conspiracy theorist who believes doctors and scientists are frauds and
>>>> criminals.
>>>>
>>>> Thousands of government employees responsible for food safety have 
>>>> been laid
>>>> off or fired over the past year. Staff at the U.S. Department of 
>>>> Agriculture
>>>> Food Safety and Inspection Service, for example, was cut by 20 per 
>>>> cent.
>>>>
>>>> Other cuts have hobbled official response to the screwworm parasite, 
>>>> which
>>>> attacks cattle. Surveillance for bird flu, too, has been axed, while 
>>>> Kennedy
>>>> has brought funding for global public-health programs, particularly in
>>>> countries that can’t afford to fund their own, to an abrupt halt, 
>>>> making it
>>>> more likely the next global pandemic will come sooner and be deadlier.
>>>>
>>>> America’s anti-establishment mania has allowed grifters like Kennedy 
>>>> to not
>>>> only lay waste to what was once humanity’s most impressive public- 
>>>> health
>>>> system but also export the consequences of those decisions to the 
>>>> rest of us.
>>>>
>>>> The U.S. sends billions of dollars in agricultural goods to Canada, 
>>>> to say
>>>> nothing of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, cars and a host of other 
>>>> things. Just a
>>>> few years ago, we could pick up American produce and feel confident 
>>>> it was
>>>> perfectly safe. Today? Not so much.
>>>>
>>>> Leaving American goods on the shelves is a solid way to protest 
>>>> Trump’s trade
>>>> war and threats of annexation. Increasingly, it is also a wise bit of
>>>> self-preservation.
>>>>
>>> You don't say!
>>>
>>> More advanced technology equips researchers to detect more outbreaks 
>>> than before.
>>>
>>> Apparently the germs were on lettuce grown down in Mexico. YMMV.
>>
>> https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-15- 
>> state-outbreak-cyclospora-illnesses-iceberg-lettuce-july-2026
>>
>> August 5, 2026
>>
>> The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are 
>> investigating a multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections linked to 
>> iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico and recalled by Taylor 
>> Farms de Mexico.
>>
>> Since the last update on July 24, 2026, state and local health 
>> officials have continued to interview additional cases of 
>> cyclosporiasis and CDC has added them to this multistate outbreak. Due 
>> to the additional interview data, the outbreak now includes people who 
>> reported exposure to Taco Bell or recalled Taylor Farms de Mexico 
>> iceberg lettuce. Many of these illnesses began before the Taylor Farms 
>> de Mexico iceberg lettuce recall on July 17, 2026. The total case 
>> count associated with this multistate outbreak is now 6,358 illnesses 
>> reported from 15 states.
>>
>>
>> https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/hcp/clinical-overview/index.html
>>
>> Cyclosporiasis contamination occurs through a fecal-environment-oral 
>> route involving the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. It is not 
>> directly person-to-person.
>>
>> Infected humans shed unsporulated (immature) oocysts in their feces. 
>> These oocysts are not immediately infectious. They must mature 
>> (sporulate) in the external environment, which typically requires 1–2 
>> weeks (or 7–15 days under favorable conditions of roughly 22–32°C / 
>> 73– 77°F and suitable humidity). Once sporulated, the oocysts become 
>> infectious.
>>
>> When someone ingests food or water containing these mature oocysts, 
>> the parasite invades the small intestine lining and causes illness. 
>> Humans are the only known significant host for C. cayetanensis (no 
>> established animal reservoir).
>>
>> The oocysts reach fresh produce (especially leafy greens like iceberg 
>> lettuce, herbs such as cilantro/basil, berries, etc.) primarily via 
>> contaminated agricultural water (most commonly implicated for large 
>> outbreaks).
>>
>> This includes irrigation, spraying, washing, or cooling water polluted 
>> by human sewage. Sources of fecal input can include leaking septic 
>> systems, overflowing sewers (especially after heavy rain), improper 
>> disposal of portable toilet waste, or other sanitation failures that 
>> allow human feces into canals, rivers, or groundwater used on farms.
>>
>> Infected farmworkers (symptomatic or asymptomatic) can contaminate 
>> produce, soil, equipment, or water through inadequate handwashing, 
>> open defecation near fields, or improper waste handling. Direct hand 
>> contact during harvest or packing can deposit oocysts, which then 
>> sporulate on the produce surface.
>>
>> Standard chlorine-based sanitizers and routine produce washing are not 
>> reliably effective against Cyclospora oocysts (they are relatively 
>> resistant). Cooking to at least 70°C (158°F) kills them.
>>
>> Because sporulation requires time in the environment, the 
>> contamination event must precede harvest/consumption by days to weeks.
>>
>> https://www.cdc.gov/dpdx/cyclosporiasis/index.html
>>
>> https://www.fda.gov/food/foodborne-pathogens/cyclosporiasis-and-fresh- 
>> produce
>>
> Thanks for posting this information. Personally, I'm in favor of the 
> open defecation near fields theory of contamination. YMMV.
> 
> Not ruling out potash contamination, but at any rate, our food is 
> killing us!
> 
> It's enough to make you think about going to a Farmer's Market and 
> getting some organic foods and cooking from scratch.
> 
> Baring that, get some lean meat and grill the hell out of it! YMMV.

I agree the crapping in the fields theory is likely correct, but hadn't 
even considered the potash angle. Those evil canadians are always up to 
something.